


howlin' for you

by hellostranger23



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Football, College Football, Commander Lexa, Eventual Sex, F/F, Football, Octavia/Lexa friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:48:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 50,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7258837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellostranger23/pseuds/hellostranger23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke has a huge crush on a mysterious hot-stretching-girl, Octavia is hungry for football training, Raven never fails to provide the greatest remarks and Lexa is the smoothest gay in the history of gays. </p><p>or</p><p>The college AU in which Clarke, Octavia and Raven start as freshmen in the same University where Lexa is the captain of Octavia's football team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hello, welcome :3
> 
> this is actually my first attempt at fanfic writing, so bear with me please.  
> english is not my first language, therefore let me know if something is misspelled or contains grammar errors.  
> this fic pretty much came to me in an entire piece, so trust me when i say it will get finished.  
> i'm not a big angst fan but we'll have a little bit of drama to lift the storyline.  
> i hope i'm not making any intolerable mistakes regarding the US, football or college life, considering my universe is rather different in real life.  
> anyway, without further ado, i present you the first chapter!
> 
> hope you like it and feedback is more than appreciated :)

She really didn’t know what to expect.

Anxiety couldn’t begin to cover what Clarke had been feeling. The only thing that kept her sane was the certainty that her best friends would soon be with her. And as much as they might tease her endlessly and actually have very little in common, Octavia, Raven and Clarke have been there for each other for as long as she can remember.

They came together through heartbreaks, school and family problems which often made Clarke wonder if she took more advantage of this part of the friendship than the other girls, considering all the stuff she already has been through. But she’s certain her friends know they can count on her, she has proved them that much.

So yeah, there were no one else she rather spend her college years with.

Her mother stopped the car in front of the small house she was gonna be sharing with her friends without Clarke realizing they’ve arrived at their destination.

They have decided right in the beginning, when they got their acceptance letters that they would live together outside of the University dorms. Which was actually more common in this specific school than in others. The dorms were mainly reserved for the least privileged students, freshmen and the students that didn’t know other people to share a place near campus. A lot of people only stayed in the dorms during freshman year, until they made friends and moved to a nicer place. But for them it was really important to stay together from the start, and since dorms only had rooms for two people maximum, that was not gonna cut it.

It wasn’t hard to find the house, since most of the places near campus were destined for students to rent them and Octavia’s brother Bellamy was a senior there and helped them scan through the vacant houses to find the best fit. They settled in this modest green one which was cheap and very well located, not far from Bellamy’s and the other boys they already knew. 

She was startled when her mother opened the car door.

“Honey? We’re here.” And she motioned for Clarke to get out of the car and help her with the bags and boxes.

She was glad her mother wasn’t really grilling her with questions about how she was feeling or if she was excited, because Clarke honestly didn’t know if she’d able to formulate an intelligible answer. Deep down she was not sure she fit here. If she actually deserved to go to such a nice school, if she was capable of following her mother’s footsteps into med school. And she was really scared that soon enough she was going to find that out.

“Clarke?” Her mother’s hand waved at her face and Clarke was pulled out of her anxiety daze. “You’re okay, honey?”

Her mother was extending a box full of her things, waiting for Clarke to grab it for what looked like more time than she should've. Her eyes were a little concerned, even though Clarke knew her mother wasn't going to press her.

They’ve had this talk before, when Clarke’s enrollment in the University was final and they were researching about the city and things for Clarke to do and know there. Clarke vocalized her fears and doubts for her mother and she reassured her that time — and so many others afterwards — that Clarke definitely was up for the challenge ahead of her. Clarke had decided to trust her mother. 

“Yeah. No, I’m fine.” Clarke told her, voice a little hoarse from not talking for a while. “Just tired from the drive.” She resumed getting the box from her mother’s hands.

“YO GRIFFIN!”

Clarke was taken aback from the relief that washed her at the known voice. She turned to smile wide for her dark haired friend who rushed from the front door to them.

Raven was quick to get the heavy box from Clarke’s arms with a smirk on her face. “Let me get that for you, _princess_.”

Clarke didn’t even mind the remark, just hugged her friend’s neck tightly drawing a squeak from a surprised Raven.

“Chill, Griffin.” Raven said trying to get out of Clarke’s grip on her. “Let’s not embarrass yourself in front of your mother. Or she might end up driving you back.”

“Oh no. Don’t kid yourself, Raven. Princess here is now your responsibility.” Clarke’s mother joked leaving them behind and carrying Clarke’s backpack and a box in her arms into the house.

Clarke rolled her eyes at the princess nickname they just won’t let die. To be honest she wasn't sure she remembered when it first started but it hasn’t left their friend’s antics in years, and since Clarke _was_  being honest, she was actually pretty fond of it.

Clarke knew she was more fragile than her two best friends, at least physically. Raven was a gym rat and Clarke more often than not wondered if that had anything to do with Raven’s fascination and familiarity with all things mechanics. Octavia, in the other hand, was always drawn to sports. She was part of practically every team available of any group sports throughout school. She strived for competition and loved to be part of a team. When women football became an official thing, like actually approved by the leagues and turned officially into a sport, Raven joked that Octavia might’ve found the true meaning of her life. Which was not that far from the truth since Octavia did choose this school because of their stellar women’s football team reputation, even though she had several full football scholarships all across the country, she still chose this partial one.

So yeah, Clarke was their princess, all blonde hair, blue eyes, no heavy exercising and full on panic of ball sports. Octavia was the one that punched Finn’s face — Clarke’s ex-boyfriend that she caught cheating on her — a couple of years back and Raven was the one Clarke turned to when she needed something trivial done, like opening a pickle jar or assembling some furniture together, but that did not meant they didn’t need her back. Clarke was the one that took care of them when they got the flu or needed relationship advice and she was the one that pretty much cooked all of their meals when they were together.

They were like a little family and Clarke was starting to get more at ease at the prospect of sharing this house with her best friends.

“Octavia here yet?” Clarke asked her friend while picking her last bag from the trunk and closing it.

“Yeah, you’re the last— Of all of us actually, I hear the boys arrived at theirs too.” Raven says leading their way to the house.

They had a small yard in the front of the house in which they already planned setting a grill for Sunday barbecues. They walked the short walk to the door with Raven asking Clarke about the small trip there. Their city wasn’t that far from the University, four hours drive tops, but the move was a huge step for all of them. It was weird knowing that a lot of people from their high school was coming there too, but the campus was so big Clarke knew it would feel completely different. 

They got inside and Clarke couldn’t help but be glad to be the last one to arrive at their house. She would definitely freak out if she got there before them, to an empty strange house and her mother leaving her there alone. Well, who was she kidding? Of course her mother would’ve waited for her friends with her, but still, she was happy when she saw some of Raven’s and Octavia’s things already all over the place. 

The house was small, which Clarke had decided was the perfect size. The small living room and the kitchen were combined, each girl got their own room, but they would have to share the only bathroom in the house, something Clarke didn’t really like to dwell too much on because she knew this would be by far the most stressful thing for all of them. They were friends for so long that they already knew each other habits even before moving in together. Octavia was quick in the shower, but she did take too many ones a day due to heavy practicing and exercising. Raven took long and hot ones and since Clarke knew they were always up earlier than her, she was scared this combination would leave her to always be the last one to shower, late to some class and with no more hot water.

“I put your stuff in the empty bedroom” Her mother said entering the living room. “I take it you’re more calm now, is it okay if I go? I don’t want to be on the road when it gets dark.” She said with a small smile.

“Yeah, no, I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Clarke assured her with a shy smile.

“We’ll take care of princess, Ms. Griff!” Raven added throwing an arm on Clarke’s shoulders and bringing her closer. Clarke chuckled and her mother approached them to give her goodbyes.

She hugged Clarke close and once more told her how proud she was and how sure she was that Clarke would love every part of this. They walked together to the car, which lead to another tight hug, promises to talk everyday and a kiss to Clarke’s forehead.

And just as easily as they got there, her mother’s car was far in her sight. 

Clarke couldn’t stop the single tear that fell down her cheek. She huffed at the unexpected sign of weakness and wiped it away fast, just in time for Raven’s arm to have found her shoulders again and for the tear to go unnoticed.

“Man, am I excited for this year?” Raven asked not waiting for an answer. “Octavia is at the guy’s and just texted for us to get our asses there, so chin up, Griffin, and let’s get ourselves drunk tonight.”

 

+++

 

They decided to bike there.

But since there was only Raven’s bike they flipped a coin to see who was going to carry whom. Clarke lost, _of course_. So there she was pedaling her ass off to carry Raven’s smirking one.

They were going slow, yet at a nice pace, considering the weight of both their bodies on the slender bike, casually chatting about the surroundings of campus where they could see people arriving at their houses, hugging friends in their front yards, several barbecues already set up and a pretty comforting welcoming atmosphere. Clarke decided that she liked it more and more how everybody seemed to be actually coming home rather than _from_ home. She wondered if she’d be feeling like this by next year.

“Griffin, check it out, one o’clock.” Raven rapidly indicated and Clarke didn’t need more explanation to start searching for a hot guy or girl.

She was not ready though for what she found. 

Thick brown hair tightly set in a high bun, her face was down as the girl was stretching _pretty_ high her right leg on a steel bar, strong naked arms holding her leg in place. She had a black sports top underneath a loose, apparently old, soft white t-shirt with the sleeves cut out in large holes that showed a very toned torso. Her strong legs were enveloped in a tight black legging and her Nikes were neatly put in firm feet.

“Damn.” They said at the same time and Clarke just knew without looking down that Raven was shamelessly staring at the girl with her mouth hanging open. She couldn’t blame her though. Clarke was very much doing the same thing. She was hypnotized by the perfect posture and strength and everything in general that girl was displaying.

“ _Griffin!_ ” Raven shouted and Clarke snapped out of her staring to realize she was seconds away to guide them into a parked car. She braked fast and both of them almost fell in the street with Raven jumping off just in time looking at her incredulously. But Raven didn’t dare to snap anything at Clarke because she knew she probably would’ve led them straight into the car too since both of them were just as dumbfounded by the stretching girl.

“Shit.” Clarke muttered under her breath.

“Don’t look, I think she’s onto us.” Raven whispered while laughing at them and prompting Clarke to do the same.

They got on the bike again trying hard not to look up in the girl’s direction avoiding a slow death from embarrassment. Clarke swore it was never this difficult to find the right balance in the bike, it was almost as if she didn’t know how to pedal and they struggled through a fit of giggles to get the bike going in a straight line.

The stretching girl was left behind in a matter of seconds with neither of them having the guts to look at her direction again. Clarke was pretty sure her cheeks have never been this flustered.

“According to Maps we’re almost there.” Raven said while checking her phone and Clarke glanced quickly at it to acknowledge the blue line guiding them through the neighborhood. They were indeed very close, only having to turn right two blocks down the street they were at and Clarke was sure she’d be able to spot their friends already enjoying themselves in front of a big house.

Having almost forgotten their previous episode (how could she really forget that image though?) Clarke suddenly noticed steady, firm running steps getting louder — _closer_ — by the second. She tightened her grip on the bike’s handlebar and looked down at an oblivious Raven distractedly texting somebody. Clarke weighed in that was better not to speak up so that her friend wouldn’t look straight at what Clarke _knew_  was coming their way.

She turned her face right, just to make sure she was not being paranoid. And as if clockwork Clarke saw the exact moment the stretching — now running — girl looked their way, green eyes locking their gaze in Clarke’s blue ones that widen so fast Clarke was sure were gonna burst. Terrified she was gonna guide them into something again, Clarke snapped her head so fast to look ahead, her face red with cheeks burning, that she only heard the soft chuckle coming from the sidewalk.

Soon enough the running girl passed them, quicker in her pace straight ahead. “Damn” Clarke exhaled and was surprised to meet Raven’s synchronized with hers again. They both had their eyes set on the girl who’s legs worked steadily. “That is the most beautiful, _firm_ ass my innocent eyes have ever laid on.” Raven was quick to add as Clarke almost missed the right turn they had to take to reach their destination.

“Yeah right.” Clarke snickered at her friend whilst turning the handlebar. “You’re eyes are anything but innocent, Reyes.”

Clarke was right in her guess and as soon as they turned right she could already spot her friends in the third house down the street, a big white one with a nice mowed yard.

She grinned to herself at the sight of Octavia trowing a football with her brother Bellamy. Clarke was also able to distinguish Jasper and Monty sitting in beach chairs both with beer bottles in their hands chatting energetically about something. There was another tall boy with brown hair flipping something at the grill, but Clarke hadn’t met him yet.

Everybody got up and stopped what they were doing when Clarke and Raven got out of the bike in the yard. Octavia was fast to run and hug Clarke tightly barely catching the girl off guard and almost landing them on the ground.

“What took you so long, Griffin?” She asked smile so wide while still keeping Clarke at arms length.

“Well, _you_ try carry Raven’s sorry ass in this excuse of a bike” Clarke shot mockingly because of course Octavia being the strong bitch she was, she would’ve gotten there at least fifteen minutes earlier without even dropping a sweat and _god!_ Clarke didn’t realize she could miss somebody she was with just a week ago this much.

“Whatever.” Raven quipped after releasing Bellamy’s hug and moved on to Jasper and Monty whom she already spotted near the large beer cooler. “Gimme one of those beers and please tell me they’re gritting cold ‘cause Griffin and I are both hot and bothered from seen the hottest chick ever on our way over here”

Jasper was ready to oblige with a smirk on his face handing Raven one bottle apparently ice cold and having another one ready waiting for Clarke who was still greeting Monty.

“True.” Clarke agreed letting herself fall on the empty beach chair previously occupied by Monty beside Jasper and happily taking the bottle from his hand. She took a long gulp and felt the amazing chill the cold beer carried through her body. “Although, let’s be honest here, Raven always barks about hot chicks but in the end she never follows through, settling for boring guys.”

Octavia genuinely laughed and the boys faked being offended by the remark. It already felt damn good to be surrounded by them again and Clarke realized she’d been smiling like a dork completely mesmerized by the fact that it was only Monday and she already had a nice cold beer in her hand while discussing with her friends the hot chick they saw running on off campus.

“Dude, not even” Raven defended herself. “If _hot-stretching-girl_ wants me to be her sexual slave, so be it.” She took another sip of her beer. “My body is ready.”

Yeah, Clarke reasoned, this college life might've  _just_ be shaping up to be what she didn’t know she needed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so let me know what you think and thanks for taking the time to read this. :3


	2. Mexican Tuesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clarke encounters a familiar face (more like back of a head) in the grocery store and Octavia goes to football boot camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd like to thank everybody who read, subscribed, bookmarked, kudo'ed and commented on this piece.  
> it means a lot to me <3  
> again, feel free to warn me on any errors.
> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter! it's a little longer :3

Moving a week before the start of classes had been probably their best idea so far. 

Her second day at the house and Clarke was already nesting. The day before Raven had helped her set up her IKEA bed, desk, shelf, chair, lamp and wardrobe. What could Clarke say? She _was_ a struggling college freshman. She had brought from home one of her mother’s old med school books just to reminisce and it was sitting lonely in her newly put shelf. Her other needed books she intended to get still in the week before classes. Clarke didn’t want anything to slow her down more than her insecurity already does. 

She decided she would not be one of those people who can’t seem to let go of high school, so she settled for very few pictures in the wall beside her bed. There was one with her mother in graduation day and it stung every time that her father was not there with them. Beside it she had put an instant photo she was not sure who took it, but Octavia and Raven are holding her up, simulating a throne, and Clarke had a paper yellow crown written ‘ _princess griff_ ’ on her head. They were laughing like idiots and it was her favorite photo of the trio. Then there was one of the three of them in kindergarten and she loved it because it was their first day at school, they didn’t even know each other yet, the teacher probably had decided to take the picture as the three of them entered the classroom at the same time. They stood there awkwardly beside one another, Octavia obviously hating having her picture taken, Clarke looking terrified to be there in the middle and Raven was not even looking at the picture, probably scanning the room as if trying to absorb all of it as she still did every time she entered somewhere new. And the last one was a picture of her father, holding her when she was just a baby and looking completely hypnotized by her mere existence. 

And that should do it for memories. Clarke would not have time for feeling nostalgic. 

Then she moved to her larger suitcase where half of her clothes were yet to find a place in her wardrobe and she found amidst some t-shirts her Hufflepuff band that Raven had gotten her years ago with the intention of mocking her, always stating that hufflepuffs are the least exciting ones, but that Clarke had actually loved and had up in her room ever since. She wondered then if it would be too childish of her to blatantly sport her Harry Potter dorkness in her college room, a place where she planned to have at least _some_ sex. So she went against it, _only for now_ she claimed to herself, and fold it neatly in a drawer with her socks.

“FUCK YEAH!” Clarke jumped at the sound of a screaming Octavia making it known to the whole street that she was back from her morning run.

“the fuck” A very hangover Raven put her head out of her bedroom door at the same time as Clarke was leaving hers to see what Octavia’s fuss was all about. She shrugged to her friend and they both crossed the small hallway to the living room where they found Octavia, dripping in sweat and downing a huge bottle of water with some sort of paper in her other hand.

They looked at her expectantly while she chugged the whole bottle in what seemed one huge interrupted drink. It took a while and Clarke knew Raven wanted to kill the other girl — she'd always say Octavia did this shit on purpose just to keep them paying attention when Octavia knew what she was about to tell them was none of their interest.

Octavia was grinning like a child on Christmas morning. 

“Football boot camp!” She shoved the flyer in her hand on their faces. Clarke found the artwork depressing and poorly designed. 

“Octavia, go fuck yourself.” Raven said shoving the flyer on Clarke’s direction and she took it to read the information while a grumpy Raven crawled to the couch where she pretty much let her body fall unceremoniously. “You’re already on the team. What’s boot camp gonna change?”

Clarke moved to the couch as well, bringing Raven’s feet to her lap also waiting for Octavia to elaborate, because after all the girl did come to this school because of a partial football scholarship, so that must've meant that Octavia was already expected to be part of the team, right? On Clarke’s understanding, boot camps were to select new players. Or was that scouting? _Fuck_ , sports were just lost on her.

“Well, kinda.” Octavia moved to stand in front of them, too electric to sit down while she explained. “I am indeed already on the team, but, if I don’t perform well enough during this week of boot camp they can discard me.”

Clarke’s eyes had widen at that. “What the fuck? They can’t just say they don’t like you and send you back home when you’re relying on the scholarship to stay in school.” Raven moved to sit straight up at that, wincing at the pain that her hangover must’ve had brought to her head.

“Yeah dude, that’s fucked up!” She added looking alarmed that Octavia didn’t seem all too bothered by that.

“No guys, you don’t understand” Octavia shook her head with a small smile at her friend’s concern. “They’re not gonna kick me out of the team per se, just based on the boot camp. I mean, I guess they kinda can if I really suck at it, but the point is, if I don’t perform well enough they’re gonna think I suck for real and it’s gonna take forever for me to get a chance at the starting team.”

“OH-MY-GOD!” Raven all but shouted bringing her hands exasperated to her face. “Octavia, you can’t keep telling us half truths to increase our attention span on your sports shit.”

Clarke chuckled. “So what is this boot camp really? Do you actually go camping with your teammates?” She scrunched her nose up at the weird idea.

Raven looked at Clarke like she just couldn’t believe how her friend was that oblivious about sports and got up to go back to her room. “I can’t believe I’m for real friends with you two.”

“No, Clarke” Octavia laughed at her apparently silly question. “It’s just a week of pretty heavy training to access how the players are physically and for the coach to put the new ones up to speed with the training schemes and overall facilities of the team without wasting actual training  time in the regular calendar.” She explained patiently with a smile in her face that Clarke was quick to notice waving a little at the end.

“What’s the matter, O?” Clarke moved forward a little in the couch, prompting the girl in front of her to finally have a seat. “Are you worried about not meeting their expectations? ‘Cause I’m sure you’re gonna blow them away-”

“It’s not that.” Octavia muttered a little low and sat beside Clarke in the couch. “I’ve just heard that like during boot camp the new players have the chance to show what they came for. And if the coach- I assume is the coach this _commander_ person I’ve heard one girl say, anyway, if you impress the 'commander' you get to start on the team on the first game of the season.” She added and Clarke could hear the awe in her voice when she entertained the possibility of starting on the very first game. “I mean, you know how much this means to me. I’ve come here to be the best. Nothing less.” Octavia finished almost shyly.

“I know, honey.” Clarke’s voice was soft. “And I have no doubt you’re gonna rock this commander’s world. I mean the coach’s already seen something of you playing, right? That’s why they offered you the scholarship… They want you, O, and they have you. There’s no way in hell they’re not gonna want to use you.” She squeezed her friend’s hand in assurance and was glad to see a shy smile creeping up her face. 

“I’m really excited about this.” Clarke decided Octavia was the cutest when she was like this about football stuff. It was like she was seven again and Bellamy had just gave her his old rugged football all over.

“Tell you what.” Clarke chipped in an excited voice. “Let’s hit the grocery’s to get some stuff we need for the house and I’ll bake you some cookies when we get back to celebrate your boot camp thing.” 

“Get some avocados! I’m craving guacamole for lunch!” They heard Raven shout from her open door bedroom.

 

+++

 

Their shopping cart was an eclectic one.

They had agreed on only taking necessary stuff since they had walked there. So yeah, toilet paper, beer, avocados, detergent, tortilla chips, a shit ton of gatorade and tequila — because well, this _was_ shaping up to be a Mexican Tuesday — was a bit of a random mix.

Clarke was already next in line of the register, arms on the handlebar of the shopping cart, absently looking around getting herself familiarized with the nearest grocery store off campus while she waited for Octavia to return with the stuff she needed to make her cookies — which was the reason they were here but still they had almost forgot it.

The grocery store was a little small, Clarke reasoned. She was in the second to last cashier register aisle— there were four — to the left of the entrance. Clarke was the kind of person that noticed how clean the place was, if they provide a nice variety of brands on their products and how friendly the staff were.

So far this place was doing pretty well on her mental test. But still, she found it a little small. Did it really take care of all the needs of all the students she knew came only here because the next grocery/supermarket was slightly further from campus? 

Her phone buzzed.

 

_Whatsapp_  
**Raven Reyes  
** online

dude      12:02  
bring tequila     12:02

 

Clarke chuckled. She swore they must've had so sort of psychic connection.

She grabbed the tequila bottle and with her phone in the other hand she opened Snapchat and took a picture. She quickly typed “ _one step ahead of you_ ” and looked for Raven’s name on the contacts list.

 

_Whatsapp_  
**Raven Reyes  
** online

 

Check Snapchat     12:03

i could kiss your face griffin     12:04

*:

 

Clarke looks up as the guy in front of her leaves with his bags in hands. She turns to her back for any sign of Octavia and spots her already on her way juggling all of the cookie’s ingredients. The cashier girl nods with a smile for Clarke to start putting her things in the belt so she does. She turns her eyes away from the groceries in front of her when Octavia reaches her and that’s when she notices a group of girls in the aisle right across from theirs.

Clarke counts four girls talking amongst themselves, all about the same height with the exception of one excessively taller. They’re all sporting little clothing, loose t-shirts, cropped tops, tank tops, cut off shorts and hairs up in loose buns. Clarke can’t really blame them though, it is a pretty warm day. It’s funny but they all look quite tired, like they barely slept, they move slowly and Clarke can only guess that they were last night at one of the several parties she knows are happening around campus this week.

She notices that the girl further to the other three, making small talk to their cashier, looks oddly familiar. Clarke’s eyes widen at the realization that this girl at the aisle in front of her is _hot-stretching-girl_. Or is it really though? Clarke’s terrible at these things, if the girl would just turn slightly Clarke could be sure, she wouldn’t mistake those intense green eyes. If Raven was there she would definitely be able to tell by now if it was the same girl or not.

Well, Raven was not there, but she could _still_ help her.

Clarke fished her phone from her back pocket, quickly unlocking the screen and finding Snapchat already open. As discreetly as she could possibly be, Clarke put her phone up and took a quick picture at the girl standing in front of them passing a case of beer for the cashier to scan — at that, Clarke suddenly notices that they’re buying a lot of beer for only four people. She types “ _help, is this hot-strecthing-girl?_ ” and again proceeds to forward the snap to Raven.

“What was that?” Clarke snaps her head in Octavia’s direction, glad that her friend expressed her question in a hushed whisper. “Were you even listening to what I was saying?” Octavia chuckles at her friend. Clarke’s actually glad Octavia is such a straight girl, because she glances at the group of girls on the aisle across from them with close to none interest.

“I’ll explain to you later” Is all Clarke gives her and it’s enough for Octavia to not push the subject. “But yeah, I was totally listening.” When her friend eyes her disbelieving, she admits. “Well, ok, maybe not the last part.” She rolls her eyes at herself. “I’m sorry, could you repeat it?”

Octavia rolls her eyes as well because she _knows_ how little self control Clarke has around pretty girls. And well, all of the four girls across from them were _oh so_ pretty.

“I was saying-” Octavia clears her throat to get Clarke’s attention. And it works, because Clarke’s not gonna be stupid enough to dismiss her friend’s talk a second time. But if she has to admit, her peripheral vision is very much focused on the girls on the other aisle, still passing the last of their beers.

“I’m definitely gonna sail through this boot camp thing. You’re right. I’m so prepared for this, I know I’m gonna leave the commander _speechless_ with my performance.” It happens fast, but since Clarke is shamelessly paying attention to the aisle across from them, she notices. The tallest of the four girls snaps her head abruptly towards them at Octavia’s statement. Clarke can even catch the smirk on her face as she puts her hand on — supposedly — hot-stretching-girl’s shoulder to whisper something. Clarke is probably paying more attention to them than she should be, because she can hear the soft chuckle, the same she heard when hot-stretching-girl offered her when she ran past Clarke and Raven on the bike yesterday. Clarke knows it’s her.

But they’re already finished with their beer shopping, and pretty fast they already payed for everything and are on their way to the entrance of the grocery store. Clarke is a little disappointed that hot-stretching-girl didn’t even look back at their direction even though Clarke knows the tallest girl said something about them. Maybe they’re football players like Octavia. She doesn’t have more time to imagine anything, the girls are long gone through the front door and before Clarke can dismiss her friend a second time she opens her mouth to offer her:

“Octavia, you’re amazing. I know close to nothing about football, but I know you’re amazing.” She’s more than happy to see her friend get bashful at her statement. “You know Raven and I are gonna be there for all of your games. You were born for this, babe.” Clarke offers her a squeeze in her arm while Octavia is already passing her pin card at the cashier girl.

Her phone buzzes again.

 

Snapchat  
**Raven  
** today

totally her  
invite her over for tequila

 

+++

 

Despite Raven’s protests, they decided to leave the Mexican Tuesday for the night. Settling for mac and cheese for lunch. Bellamy, Jasper and Monty said they would stop by later to officially welcome them into the neighborhood, but the girls knew they were only seeking the newly purchased tequila.

Clarke and Raven actually found out that Octavia’s boot camp thing started that same day, or night that is, but the girl didn’t let them change their plans. Saying she would join them as soon as she was back from training and demanding that they saved her some food.

That meant the afternoon was pretty lazy, with Clarke pretty much finishing getting her room in order, all clothes actually inside the wardrobe, table set up with fresh sheets of paper and sketching material organized on decorative glasses. A newly added poster next to her already positioned photos on the nostalgia corner near her bed, and she was so far pleased with the ambiance.

Clarke didn’t want to bother Raven, she knew the other girl was still nursing her hangover to be 100% for the impromptu Mexican Tuesday, so since she was lacking some quality distraction, she decided to download some apps into her phone.

Yeah, _those_ kind of apps.

To be fair she only knew of two: Tinder and Happn. What? She was single, slightly sexually frustrated and in a new setting. She wanted to explore her options. Happn would’ve actually come in handy today at the grocery’s store, maybe hot-stretching-girl could’ve appeared in her radar.

She almost gives up and deletes the apps about every step of setting her profiles up. It looks too desperate. As much as she wants to peek at what the University has to offer, it’s not like people won’t be able to see that she’s there too. And Clarke is not _that_ sexually frustrated. It hasn’t been _that_ long. Well, it might not be long, but only two one-night-stands in a period of four months is a little depressing.

God, she’s _young_ , she should be getting more.

So Clarke insists, swiping left for a while. Not that she’s being overly picky, but shirtless guys looking beyond drunk on their first picture is not high on her preference list. Neither are car photos. She wonders if people actually swipe right just for a car picture. When the first girl appears, Clarke is suddenly conflicted. She is cute, light brown hair, sunglasses on, Clarke can see little of the outdoor background. They both like The Tallest Man On Earth. These are pretty good signs, so why is Clarke’s finger not pressing the heart button?

She knows why but she’s too stubborn to admit that the only reason she downloaded these apps is to look for hot-stretching-girl. Classic pathetic Clarke. Already crushing on a intangible person. How could she be such a loser? She barely can remember the whole face of the girl, best mental image she has it’s the back of the girl’s head. That thick brown hair in a messy bun, strong neck that looked so soft from afar and a set of strong shoulders supporting the image. Clarke sighs. How is she ever going to find this girl? Ok, fine, she did see her twice in two days already, this might be easier than she’s giving it credit for… The football thing! Clarke distinctively remembers Octavia’s mention of football to gain the taller girl’s attention.

“What you up to?” Raven graces her with her presence, dropping on her bed beside her, belly down and face in the pillow.

“Nothing…” Clarke offers trying her hardest to seem nonchalant. She knows she failed because Raven quickly turns to face her with a knowing smirk.

“Spit it, Griffin. You know you’re a terrible liar.”

Clarke decides it’s not worth putting a fight, Raven won’t drop it. “Fine” She exhales a little annoyed for being such an easy target. “I was sort of going through… _Tinder_ …”

Raven eyes her disbelievingly maybe waiting for the other shoe to drop. When Clarke offers her nothing, she laughs. "Dude, don’t you think it’s a little early for that? We’ve only been here for two days, I’m sure we’re not gonna have a problem finding some-“

“It’s not that, I’m not actively playing the field.” Clarke defends herself sitting a little straighter to validate her argument. When Raven just looks a her waiting for more, she adds. “I’m more like searching for _someone_ in particular…” Clarke doesn’t meet her friend’s eyes when she says that, picking at the hem of her t-shirt like it’s the most interesting thing on Earth. “Ya know… hot-stretching-girl.”

Raven gives Clarke a focused look, like she’s weighing what Clarke has just told her and finally nods firmly.

“Valid.” Raven decides and she remains serious for a few more seconds than relaxes again in Clarke’s bed, turning her face up and sliding further into her pillows. “Any luck so far?”

“Nah.” And Clarke is sliding down the bed beside her, both of them absently looking up at the ceiling.

That’s when both their phones buzz. Raven hands Clarke hers that sits on the bed side table while fishing her own from her back pocket.

 

Whatsapp  
**Arkers  
** Bellamy, Octavia, Clarke, Jas…  
today  
Bellamy created group “ **Arkers** ”  
Bellamy added you  
Bellamy changed this group’s icon

 **Bellamy Blake  
** So Mexican Tuesday     19:02  
What do you want us to bring?     19:02

 **Raven Reyes  
** damn right you’re not getting our  
tequila for free     19:03

 **Jasper Jordan  
** pleaseeee make us your chili ravennn     19:03

Yesss!     19:03  
You guys go to the grocerys get the  
chili stuff and we’ll start with the  
drinks preparation     19:04

 **Octavia Blake  
** Save some chili for me!     19:04  
I’m heading out for football boot camp  
right now     19:04  
Also Bellamy, buy me some Coronas     19:04  
I’ll pay you when I get back     19:05

I’ll make sure you get your  
chili, O!     19:05  
Also get more avocados and  
chips, Bell     19:05

 **Bellamy Blake  
** You and I both know you’re never  
gonna pay me back, Octavia     19:06

 **Raven Reyes  
** shadeeeee     19:06  
all right, i’ll make you kids  
some chili     19:07  
hurry tho, bell  
i hate cooking when i’m hungry     19:07

 **Jasper Jordan  
** [picture]  
we’re already at the store     19:08

 

+++

 

The boys show up with way more stuff than the anticipated.

Raven is halfway through the chili making while Clarke is in margaritas duty and Bellamy is finishing a huge bowl of guacamole. Jasper just sits in a stool by the kitchen counter sipping his beer. Monty was running late and should be there any second.

Every small break Clarke had from the group’s on going conversation, she was actively swiping left on Tinder. She decided that since she had only one goal with the app, she shouldn’t waste any more time. As long as hot-stretching-girl’s face didn’t appear in her screen, there was no point entertaining wether or not she would heart other people, she didn’t want to meet anybody this way. She didn’t want to meet hot-stretching-girl this way either, but she was dying to at least get the girl’s name.

“Are we boring you, princess?” Bellamy teases her sitting in a stool next to Jasper right in front of Clarke. She looks at him encouraging him to elaborate. “You haven’t take your eyes off your phone ever since we got here.”

“She’s on Tinder.” Raven is fast to comment wriggling her eyebrows at Clarke’s side.

“I’m just looking for somebody.” Clarke defends herself slapping Raven’s arm. “Go back to your chili, Reyes.”

“Who are you looking for?” Monty is at the door, smile on his face and case of beer under his right arm.

Clarke grins at him and Bellamy offers help to put the beers in the fridge. Monty sits in the now vacant stool across from Clarke and waits still smiling for her to answer him. She glances down at her phone and frowns at the _It doesn’t look like there’s anyone new around…_  screen on it.

“Doesn’t matter. She’s not here.” Clarke says defeated pushing her phone at his direction for him to see for himself while she takes the blender to serve margaritas in the glasses in front of her.

“She does look to cool for Tinder” Raven quips from her place in the stove, waving the wooden spoon in her hand to emphasize her point. Bellamy takes it to taste the chili ignoring Raven’s glare and humming his approval.

“Who though?” It’s Jasper turn to inquire her and by the looks of his face he’s wondering if he missed a part of this strange conversation.

“You could’ve said that _before_ I showcased my face for the entire campus in the damn app!” Clarke counters Raven’s remark with a hint of irritation on her voice. She sips at her margarita glass and winces at the stronger than intended tequila taste. “ _Perfect_ , now the margaritas are shit too.”

“Not to worry princess, I know how to fix it.” Bellamy goes to their freezer to get more ice. Clarke can see in the other boys’s faces that they’re still waiting to get the whole picture of the Tinder conversation. So she explains it, reminding them of yesterday’s bike incident and adding the new information she gathered so far since the grocery store. The story sounded more ridiculous each time she said it out loud.

“Those football chicks are hot.” Jasper offers her almost sympathetically, as if he knows her pain. Bellamy slaps his head at the comment and Jasper quickly adds, as if to avoid another slap “I don’t mean Octavia, though, i mean, she _is_ hot, but you know what-”

“Damn right I am.” They all turn their faces to see Octavia entering the house.

She looks exhausted to say the least. Her clothes are dirty with grass and earth stains, her hair is wet from sweat and water Clarke knows she dumped on her head, and she’s sporting a few scratches on her arms, but the beaming smile on her face tells Clarke there’s nothing else Octavia rather be doing.

“Right on cue, bitch, chili’s ready.” Raven smirks at her appearance. “Go take a quick shower and make yourself presentable for us.”

Octavia drops her gym bag on the floor by the door and takes of her shoes wasting no time to get to the bathroom. Clarke guesses she must be starving so she urges everybody to help set the table because Octavia is probably gonna take the shortest shower of her life. Bellamy is finishing fixing the sour margarita batch with a smile on his face that doesn’t go unnoticed on Clarke’s account. “It’s great to see her this happy, right?” She nudges him with her shoulder offering a smile of her own. He chuckles and nods.

What was intended to be a just chips and dips event turned into a taco fest, with Raven’s amazing chili, Bellamy’s guacamole, some other toppings in small bowls for people to add as they pleased and Clarke’s rescued margaritas to refresh the warm night. Octavia joins them in a matter of minutes, damp hair up in a white towel, scratches clean in her arms and the beaming smile refusing to leave her face.

She doesn’t wait for questions and starts spilling everything about the boot camp.

This first night was only for the rookies, which she guessed were about 14, but she noticed that a few girls showed up at the stands and drank beer throughout the whole training and she heard someone say they were a few of the seniors on the team. She liked the coach even though she was an ice queen, her name was Indra, and she was a woman of few words. Octavia ran like her life depended on it the three hours of training and was sad that they didn’t get to go through any of the plays, but she figured it was ok for the first day. She guessed that the coach wanted to see their level of physical resistance with generic workouts to begin with.

“So O,” Raven started when Octavia looked done with her boot camp report. “Clarke here has been meaning to ask you something about your boot camp.” Clarke hates her because everybody is knowingly smirking and waiting for her to ask about the possibility of hot-stretching-girl being on Octavia’s football team.

“She hasn’t seen her face, Raven.” Clarke tries to stop her friend’s attempt at embarrassing her.

“Who? What?” Octavia eyes them both rather confused. Even though Clarke said that she would explain her snapchat of the girl in the grocery story to Octavia, they both forgot about it and Octavia is currently the most oblivious of the whole group on Clarke’s efforts to find hot-stretching-girl.

Sighing her defeat, Clarke tries to convey everything she had so far in a short story for Octavia, stressing the part where the taller of the girls in the grocery store had her interest on them when Octavia brought up the boot camp thing. Having finished, she asks “Okay yeah, do you have any idea if the girls are part of your football team?”

Raven rolls her eyes and Clarke knows it’s because she didn’t exclusively ask about hot-stretching-girl, but Clarke pretends she doesn’t notice waiting — as everybody else on the table — for Octavia’s response.

“Well, I don’t mean to disappoint you, Clarke” Octavia starts, lifting herself up to reach some of the toppings to fill her maybe fifth enormous taco. “But all the rookies were kinda ugly, except for me of course, and the seniors in the stands, despite being too far for me to properly access their faces, were intimidating as hell.” She sticks her tongue out proud of the creation in her hands, then directs her attention at Clarke. “You might be a little out of your depth here.”

Octavia offers her a sympathetic smile and Ravens laughs out loud at Clarke’s misery. The boys can’t help but laugh along and Clarke is sure her face is red. She takes a deep breath and allows herself to laugh at the silliness of this whole situation.

Maybe it’s better this way, you know, Clarke has too much on her plate with pre med and a crush on a hot football player was not gonna do her any good.

So she forces herself to let go of the image of hot-stretching-girl that hasn’t left her imagination in longer than she would admit to any of her friends, taking a large sip of her margarita and pretending to be interested in the new subject that has inhabited their friend’s conversation.

Yeah, she could do that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so what did you think?  
> drop by at the comment section to let me know your impressions :)  
> next chapter we'll have some actual clexa interaction. i'm excited. :B  
> see you then!


	3. Football Boot Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clarke and Raven go watch Octavia's last day of football boot camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for the delay!  
> this was taking longer than i expected, so i decided to break the chapter in two!  
> next part won't take long since i'm already writing it.  
> i apologize for any weirdness regarding football training lol this is meant only to entertain, not to be taken too seriously. :P

Her head is pounding so hard Clarke wonders for a minute if she’s not bursting an aneurism.

This is probably the worst hangover that anybody has ever had in the history of the world.

It’s like her brain is melting. Her eyes seem like they’re gonna give up on her face and fall on her feet. Her mouth won’t stop filling weird no matter how much water she drinks. And the horrible taste of cheap vodka remains there to mock her even after she’s done three rounds of mint mouthwash.

The only thing that makes her feel a little better is the fact that Raven is dying just as much as Clarke is.

They meet at the kitchen, both of them with sunglasses already on, Clarke forcing herself to drink her fourth huge glass of cold water as Raven makes her way to the fridge, fishing the last two bottles of gatorade from inside. They sit beside one another in the stools, trying to regain some composure before leaving the house.

“I hope Octavia appreciates the enormous effort we’re putting into this.” 

It’s Raven who breaks the silence, voice low and heavy with hangover, her gaze trained on the sink across from the balcony, Clarke worries the girl might be contemplating throwing up there. She doesn’t move though, focusing hard on her own breathing. Clarke only manages to nod at Raven’s previous remark. She can’t believe they’re out of bed at 8AM on a Sunday, as hangover as a human being can be, and ready to go watch Octavia’s last day of football boot camp.

Octavia made them promise they would be there on her last boot camp day. Saying that this could be her last chance to grab a spot in the starting team, something Clarke noticed Octavia was a little disappointed that it hadn’t happen already, and she wanted their support. They assured her they would be there, cheering for her and ready to celebrate what they knew was only a matter of time to happen.

Clarke had never seen Octavia work so hard at anything in her life. The boot camp took all of Octavia’s afternoons, starting at half past noon and ending sometime around 7PM. She would come back home exhausted, every day with new scratches and bruises all over her body, sometimes even in her face. She almost didn’t have the strength to eat dinner, shower and tell them a little bit about her day, always falling asleep hard on the couch mid-sentence. Clarke and Raven would pick her up and bring her to her room, and she would only leave it in the next morning, way before Clarke and Raven were up, to her morning jog. The girls only had real interactions as a group at lunch, just enough to catch up on Clarke and Raven’s gossips on the parties and Octavia’s stories from the team, before she had to run back to boot camp.

Yeah, Clarke and Raven’s week was quite different from their friend’s. They partied hard. Every night they went to a different house party or local bar, last Friday they actually went clubbing. Not their finest moment and by 2 AM they ended up at Bellamy’s playing beer pong in high heels with the boys. This past week was probably the most fun Clarke has had in a short period of time, she even manage to get a one-night-stand, to her own surprise. Doesn’t matter that it was a frat guy, and that Clarke has no recollection of his name. He was cute, she thinks, she doesn’t remember much.

Throughout the week, Clarke barely thought of hot-stretching-girl. 

_Barely._

Still every time she entered a new house or a bar, she scanned the place in hopes to see her again. But she was never there. Clarke was still convinced that the girl was in Octavia’s football team, so she reasoned that hot-stretching-girl was probably as tired as Octavia was by the end of every night of boot camp. Yet, Clarke hasn’t seen her in daylight either, not on the grocery store Clarke went back a couple of times nor the street she first saw hot-stretching-girl.

What?

So maybe Clarke passed by that exercise set on the street, hoping to see the girl again, more than one time this week. So what? At least she deleted the dating apps from her phone.

She was not desperate.

_She wasn’t._

 

+++

 

They walked to the football field, practically dragging themselves, last bottles of gatorade on their hands as a last attempt to cure their hangover. The field was not far from their house, which was one of the reasons for them to settle on that particular one. The walk there was almost pleasant, both girls enjoying the light breeze of the morning against their sore faces in silence.

In a matter of minutes they could already see a bunch of girls running around the football field, with three others gathered on the middle of the field, looking through clipboards while having a conversation. There were a lot of football equipment on the ground beneath them, helmets and shoulder pads and other stuff Clarke had no idea what they’re for, and then Clarke noticed that the girls running were all only wearing oversized white t-shirts and black leggings, while the other three in the middle-field were wearing crimson jerseys over the shoulder pads. Clarke distinguished one of the girls standing in the middle-field with the clipboards as the taller girl from the grocery store, she was resting a megaphone on her hand and looked like she was making a point to the other two girls with her, while everybody else ran laps.

Raven led Clarke to a spot in the stands, not too far from the field so that they could follow Octavia’s moves. She was running with the rest of the girls, making a point to be in the front row, but she didn’t notice their arrival, too focused on her pace. There were more people in the stands, and Clarke could see a few more on their way over, and she wondered if this was a thing in this school, to watch the last day of football boot camp. It probably was.

Clarke couldn’t prevent herself to scan every girl in the field in her helpless search for hot-stretching-girl, and was extremely disappointed to not find the girl there. She double checked, triple checked and could not believe she was wrong about this. _Fuck_ , this was her biggest tip on the girl’s whereabouts and it wasn’t even true, hot-stretching-girl was not a part of Octavia’s football team.

“She’s not here.”

Clarke doesn’t have to explain to Raven who “she” is. Her friend pats her back in sympathy, probably too hangover to make some joke at Clarke’s teenage-like crush.

“That girl in the middle, you see the taller one?” Clarke points for Raven to find her, and Raven nods when she does. “She’s the one I told you guys about, from the grocery store. Pretty sure the other two where there as well.”

“They’re probably seniors.” Raven adds and looks around the field searching for something. “Where’s the coach?”

Clarke scans the field too and notices the coach is nowhere to be seen. There’s only young girls on there, and the three on the middle definitely look like seniors, slightly older, specially since they’re wearing actual crimson team jerseys, instead of the white t-shirts of the running girls. Clarke and Raven are watching the three seniors as they finished their conversation, bumping fists and nodding at each other. The taller girl, HUNTER is the name Clarke reads from the back of her jersey, leads the megaphone to her mouth and the people on the stands go silent with anticipation. 

“All right. Huddle up.” Her voice is firm and there’s no space for second guessing.

Clarke and Raven move forward a little bit on their places as if it would make a difference in their view. They watch as the running girls move themselves to the middle of the field, leaving their formations behind, and sitting anxiously in front of the three seniors. Clarke follows Octavia’s hard expression, trying to read her, but failing miserably. She’s all work and no play in the field.

“For most of you, this is not your first rodeo.” Most of the girls nod their heads and Clarke can only assume they’re sophomores, juniors or even seniors. “So you know I’m not usually the one doing this, but Woods asked me to start before she can be with us.”

That’s probably why the coach is not there, Clarke thinks to herself.

“As for the _rookies_ ,” Hunter smirks “I’ll walk you through what’s about to go down.” She looks intently at some of the girls in white t-shirts. “This is your last day of football boot camp and _we_ will be the ones conducting your practice today.”

Some people on the stands cheer and whistle, as if they already know what that means. Clarke looks at Raven through her sunglasses, a confused look on her face, but the girl only shrugs taking a sip from her gatorade.

“You managed to get yourselves in the _best_ women’s college football team in the country. Some of you managed to stay here during all your college years, as did we.” The girl gestures to herself and the two girls beside her. “But I gotta say… I’m not impressed with you so far this year.” She sounds harsh and Clarke can see some of the girls shifting uncomfortably on their places. “You were granted the privilege to play with some of the best players in the country, award- _fucking_ -winning best players. And this is how you’ve been training this week? I’ve seen all of you play, and you’re not winning it.”

Clarke thinks Octavia is gonna jump this Hunter girl at any minute, her eyes are narrowed, angry and Clarke knows her face isn’t red from the running.

“You’re lucky the Commander didn’t have time to watch you train this week, she would be pissed.” Something changed in Octavia’s expression and Clarke can’t really pinpoint what it is. She looks surprised, confused. “Actually, that’s probably why your sorry asses have been failing miserably at this boot camp. She wouldn’t have let this shit show continue for the whole week.” 

“You’ve been complaining non-stop about running your laps, you’ve been going through coach’s plays at a glacial pace. I haven’t seen you fuckers at the gym once this week. What do you think you’re doing to our team?”

“Shit.” Clarke and Raven mutter at the same time. This is not what they expected at all. They know Octavia has been working her ass off, barely making to her own bed every night. What more does this girl want from them?

“Holy shit, hold your panties, Griffin!” Raven laughs and squeezes her knee hard and Clarke winces at it surprised, then follows Raven’s open mouthed gaze.

Then she sees it.

 

 _Her_.

 

Hot-stretching-girl is jogging her way in on the lateral of the field, big gym bag on her back, thick brown hair loose in barely there curls, black skinny jeans and a red flannel.

Beautiful.

She reaches one of the benches, puts her bag on the ground, quickly opening and taking football equipments from the inside. She sits on the bench while she changes her sneakers for football cleats, then gets up and starts unbuttoning her flannel and stripping down into only a tight black tank top that molds her body in all the right ways. Clarke is taken aback that only now she’s noticing that hot-stretching-girl has tattoos on her arms. As if the girl couldn’t be more… _captivating_. Clarke can’t really make out what they are though, one on her left forearm and another, slightly bigger, on her right upper-arm.

“Damn” And it’s the third time Clarke and Raven exhale it in sync at the girl’s physique.

“This is your last opportunity to play with us. We are sixteen seniors leaving by the end of this year. And five of us have been on the starting team since our first boot camp day freshman year. Three of us have been called the best ever on our college positions. And only one player _ever_ has led the same team to national champions three years in a row. And that’s _your commander_. You better up your games, rookies, we will not let any of you take this last championship from our hands. The cup will remain in Arkadia and you better work your asses off to be of our help. You will not get a second chance at this. At playing with us, learning from the best and making sure you _are_ part of Arkadia’s football team.”

Hunter is still talking but Clarke and Raven could not care less. Hot-stretching-girl is putting her shoulder pads, tightening the straps, trowing her crimson jersey over her toned body and facing the field. She holds her hair up and quickly sets it in a tight high bun, then grabs her helmet through the face mask and jogs her way to the middle of the field. Clarke can read WOODS and the number 13 on the back of her jersey. 

The small crowd on the stands kind of goes wild as hot-stretching-girl makes her way to the field. All the girls turn to look at her approaching, Hunter has a smirk on her face and nods towards her. Hot-stretching-girl goes to stand with the three other girls in front of the others, her face is stoic, almost expressionless, as she scans the faces of the white t-shirt girls, most of them looking terrified back at her. Hunter drops the megaphone to her side and the four girls start talking amongst themselves, and now Clarke is sure these are the four girls from the grocery store.

They are probably filling hot-stretching-girl on the events of the beginning of practice. Clarke wonders why the girl was late. She looks intensely at the clipboard, then at all the girls in front of her, with Hunter whispering things in her ear. Soon enough, as if not to waste any more time, hot-stretching-girl nods firmly to her three teammates and Hunter hands her the megaphone.

“Everybody take a knee.”

All the girls are quick to follow, straightening their backs and listening with serious expressions. Hot-stretching-girl’s voice is calm, steady, terrifying and _oh_  so sexy. Clarke’s stomach flips and she barely blinks paying as much attention to every word as all the football girls in the field. 

“For those of you who don’t know it yet, and you should’ve, I’m Lexa Woods. Your quarterback. Your captain. And your Commander.” Clarke and Raven share a look, mouths hanging open at the discovery. Octavia looks like everything she thought about the team was wrong and that all of her effort this week means nothing to the girl with the megaphone in front of her, Clarke wishes she could squeeze her friend’s hand in reassurance.

“I came here today hopeful. We’ve had some great players graduating last year, we won the national championship a third time. No team, men’s or women’s, has ever done that. But _us_.” She pauses, looks to Hunter and continues. “I presumed I would come here today to find rookies who cannot wait to play here, with us. Young women ready to give themselves out to Arkadia Football. I was sure I would be able to see hunger in your eyes.” She pauses searching for something in front of her. “I was mistaken, I can’t see shit in your eyes.”

Clarke flinched. 

“Anya and the girls tell me you have not reached our desired standards. You’re lazy. And I won’t have it. None of you should either. Any lousy player can bring the whole team down. 

And I. Will not. Have it.”

Clarke can’t deny she is intimidate by Lexa Woods.

The girl has impeccable posture, her voice never wavers throughout her speech, every single person in the stands and in the field is practically holding their breaths with every word and still she doesn’t seem fazed by the attention. She is fueled by it. And it’s intimidating as hell.

“I will grant you all one last chance today. You should take it. Work it. Prove yourself.”

Hunter and the other two girls move forward, handing what looks like sharpies to the girls kneeled in front of them.

“Take the sharpie, write your last name and position on your t-shirt. Then come forward grab a pad and helmet for yourselves. We’re gonna see what you’re made of.”

It takes a while for all the girls to get ready with their equipment and go back to their places. Lexa and the other girls talk more, taking notes on their clipboards and analyzing the players in front of them. Octavia is one of the first ones to be ready, concentrated look on her face behind the face mask of the helmet, her shirt says “BLAKE wide receiver” and Clarke can’t help but feel proud at her friend.

When only a couple of girls are still putting their t-shirts over the shoulder pads, Lexa brings her attention back to the larger group.

“As seasoned players already know, and rookies might’ve heard, no position is set in stone on the team. Any of you can prove yourself fitting to the starting team. The four of us have never lost our positions since freshmen year, however if you prove to be better, you will have a shot at our positions.” Hunter snickers at that and Clarke already doesn’t like this girl. “We’re gonna drill some plays and I want to see nothing but your best.”

 

+++

 

They go at it for two hours.

The players’s white t-shirts are soaking wet as they take turns on the try out for the positions. Nobody dared to challenge Lexa’s quarterback position and Clarke understands why from the start.

Lexa is still wearing her skinny ripped jeans and even so she moves effortlessly behind the players. Her moves are fast, precise, _perfect_. Clarke doesn’t know if every quarterback is that way, but from her understanding it’s as if Lexa is dancing and always throwing the football safely at somebody’s hands. When a player fails to catch the ball, it’s obvious it’s their fault, not Lexa’s. Clarke doesn’t get football at all, but she can just see that.

The other three girls in their Arkadia’s team jerseys are pretty impressive as well. Clarke has no idea what their positions are but they’re the ones that protect Lexa. It’s when she understands that that she can see they are great at having her back. Lexa is the only one in the field not wearing her helmet. They’re _that_ good. They just know nobody will be able to cross them and get her.

Octavia seemed to be doing pretty well, Clarke thinks and Raven has agreed when Clarke asked her. Every time Lexa threw the ball at Octavia, she was able to catch it and outwit the players running to tackle her, even if sometimes it looked like they were gonna take her down, she got to the touchdown line every time. And Clarke has lost count on how many times there were. But there’s another girl also trying out for wide receiver, and she’s going at it just as hard, Clarke wonders if that's the girl that currently holds the position on the starting team.

The players start to give up, letting themselves fall to the ground, not one more ounce of energy on their bodies. The girls in the jerseys keep teasing every one that gives up, even though they look like they saw this coming. The people on the stands keep cheering for the girls who are still going, Octavia being one of them, and she stays and stays, until she is the last one willing to keep playing. Clarke knows this doesn’t mean Octavia is on the starting team, but this can only be a good thing right?

“All right, everybody take a knee.” Lexa is back at the megaphone and the girls quickly come back from the dead to reunite around her. Everybody’s on their knee except for Octavia, who is still further in the field, fierce look on her face making it clear that she is not over trying out yet.

Hunter nudges Lexa’s ribs to get her attention and nods towards Octavia. Clarke thinks she sees Lexa smirk at the sight, and she is suddenly seriously worried about her friend’s state of mind.

“You wanna keep going, rookie?” Lexa says in the megaphone, everybody turn their heads in Octavia’s direction. She nods firmly. Lexa seems to consider it for a while, her face clearly not impressed. “All right, come back a few yards.”

Octavia does so and Lexa turns to one of the girls in Arkadia’s jersey, giving her some instructions. They both follow to where Octavia is waiting for them, one yard away from the rest of the girls. Lexa talks to them and because the megaphone is left behind they can only assume she’s explaining how this will go down. The two girls nod at the instructions and get in position to start running. Lexa backs away one yard and when she’s ready she shouts “GO LONG” And the girls starting running waiting for the football to leave Lexa’s hand. When it does, the football goes flawlessly into Octavia’s direction and she has to run fast for the other girl to not catch her. She succeeds. And they go back to where Lexa is expecting the football.

They do this more times than anyone there expected. Octavia doesn’t back down, losing some and winning some and it’s clear she will not stop until Lexa offers her the position on the starting team. The whole team waits anxiously and unfortunately Clarke doesn’t think Lexa will budge. Octavia is clearly tired, losing two times in a row to the other girl, but she comes back again and puts herself in position to run. When she looses a third one, she brings her hands to her knees. Clarke is worried, it’s clear Octavia cannot take it anymore but stubborn as ever she will not back down.

“What’s the matter, Blake?” Lexa shouts in Octavia’s direction. “I thought you were gonna leave me _speechless_.”

And it’s a low blow. 

Octavia snaps her head up and she is as determined as Clarke has ever seen her. She pushes herself forward and goes back to her running position, the other girl in the jersey not believing she’s gonna do it one more time.

Lexa is slightly annoyed at Octavia’s persistence and looks like she’s gonna end that right there. Then for the first time since entering the field, she looks up the stands, searching something, and _shit_ Lexa’s looking directly at them. However Raven looks up at her back and when Clarke follows her friend eyes, she realizes Lexa is not looking at them, but at an older woman with dark skin and a serious expression. The woman nods, and Clarke turns back to see Lexa nodding back at her.

She waits a few seconds for the two girls to get in position and shouts for them to go long again.

Clarke can see that Octavia is running like her life depends on it, however the weight of hours of training seem to be taking its toll on her. And the other girl catches the football and reaches the touchdown line with some ease, leaving Octavia behind.

Octavia gives up. _Finally_ , Clarke thinks worried. She sits in the ground clearly disappointed in herself, taking her helmet off and letting her head hang in her hands. The girl reaches Octavia on her way back to the middle of the field. She crouches down, hand on Octavia’s back, and says something to her. Octavia nods and gets up resuming the walk back to the middle of the field.

“That shit was intense.” Raven turns to Clarke with disbelief in her voice.

“I know! I was this close to going down there and talking some sense into Octavia’s stubborn ass.”

The girls join the others, some of them pat Octavia in the back with encouraging words. Lexa waits for them to settle and picks the megaphone from the ground again.

“We have a long road ahead of us.” Lexa sounds almost softer somehow. “It’s been a rough practice and even though most of you think you gave us your best today, I can tell you, you didn’t. Some of you started today already knowing you were going to lose. Some of you thought your success was sure, but you underestimated your fellow teammates. We’ll have to come together as a team. You’ll need to trust me and follow me. I will give you my 100%. I will command you to national champions again, but you will need to trust me and follow me. This is no child’s game, you will be pushed to your limits until you realize what Arkadia Football actually means and start acting like you deserve to be here. Victory stands in the back of sacrifice. And I want to see you sacrifice yourselves for this team. For your commander.”

The whole place goes silent. The girls absorbing Lexa’s words still trying to catch their breaths from the hard workout.

“We will meet again, here, coach already gave you the spreadsheets with training plans and schedules. Be on time and do not show up at all if you’re not willing to pour yourself in this field.”

Lexa nods for them, signalizing the end of practice. The small crowd in the stands jumps to their feet clapping and cheering at them. The girls start to get up talking with one another, Octavia remains seated on the ground fiddling with the grass beneath her feet. Clarke can’t wait to hug her friend tight, she lifts herself from the stands and Raven follows beside her. They’re going down the stairs from the stands, eyes set on the field at their friend and they watch as Lexa approaches Octavia who looks up just as Lexa extends her hand in her direction. Octavia takes it and Lexa pushes her up to her feet. Clarke can see that Lexa’s face is stern as it was for the better part of the practice, but her eyes never leave Octavia’s. She says something to her, it’s impossible to decipher from the distance, but Octavia nods firmly in response and their clasped hands turn into a brief handshake.

Hunter is smiling and shouting something at all the girls who smile back and nod their heads enthusiastically. She watches as Lexa makes her way back to the bench where her stuff lies, taking off her jersey to remove the shoulder pads. The older woman from behind them is already on the field, approaching Lexa and she is listening to what Lexa has to say while the quarterback rearranges herself to her regular clothes. Their chat is brief and the woman goes to the middle of the field leaving Lexa behind and stopping to talk with some of the girls. Clarke follows Lexa slowly making her way out of there with the corner of her eyes, gym bag slung across herself.

When they get down to the field, Octavia is waiting for them with a sad smile in her face. They sandwich her in a tight bear hug until they hear her laugh. Raven messes Octavia’s hair and tells her they are proud of her. Octavia smiles at them and puts her arms over their shoulders, hugging them awkwardly as they walk themselves out, Raven carrying Octavia’s gym bag.

As soon as they reach the street outside laughing at some joke Raven made about Octavia being a bat-shit-crazy-bitch on the field, they are surprised to find Lexa unlocking her bike from a parking rack. Her head snaps up at the unexpected noise and she offers them a tight lipped smile.

Clarke thanks God for sunglasses because she is shamelessly checking out the girl in front of her and it’s great that Lexa can’t see Clarke’s eyes racking her up and down.

“You’re going to the lake party, Blake?”

Octavia looks surprised at the casual interaction sparked from Lexa and detangles herself from her friends before answering.

“I-uh- Yeah. I will. Definitely.” Clarke and Raven eye each other behind Octavia’s back while doing their best to hold their laughters in. They’re not used to seeing Octavia this disconcerted while talking with a girl. 

“Cool.” Lexa gets on her bike and starts paddling slowly away from them.

She turns her face back a few seconds later and calls at Octavia. “Be sure to bring your friends.” And Clarke can swear she sees a half smile creep up Lexa’s face as the girl resumes biking further down the street, not waiting for an answer.

“ _Lake_ party?” Raven moves her sunglasses to the top of her head and her eyes are already shining, the earlier hangover long forgotten.

Clarke can’t even pretend she isn’t giddy about what just happened.

“We’re going.” Clarke looks at Raven and they both start jumping up and down around Octavia’s tired figure.

Octavia chuckles at her friends and sighs in content. 

“Anya was telling everybody at the end of practice about this lake party for the football team. I think everybody is going.” She smiles and Clarke thinks it’s relieve that she sees in Octavia’s eyes that the boot camp finally ended and she’ll be able to party with her friends before the beginning of classes tomorrow. “It’s in a couple of hours, so let’s get home already cause I’m starving.”

“And stinking.” Raven adds and skillfully dodges Octavia’s slapping hand at her.

 

+++

 

According to Maps the party was a little outside, further from the off-campus streets they were used to by now, which made sense for a lake party. Still, they decided to walk there, figuring it couldn’t end well to get back home biking drunk.

Octavia filled them on the inside scoop of the football practice as they walked the whole way. She was completely caught off guard by the revelation that Lexa Woods was the commander, since the girl didn’t make an appearance on any day of boot camp, something that three of them found very strange. The older woman Clarke and Raven spotted talking with Lexa at the end of practice, was the coach, Octavia reminded them that her name was Indra and that she actually seemed to like Octavia during the other days of boot camp.

Clarke was dying to ask Octavia what Lexa said to her when she helped Octavia on her feet on the field at the end of practice, but was afraid it was too personal since Octavia hadn’t told them already. Octavia was talking about what she was thinking when she wouldn’t drop the try out, between taking sips at her enormous Red Bull can, so Clarke decided to let her curiosity aside.

“I mean they had just told us not to be lazy! I was trying to prove them I wasn’t.” She was talking with her hands, almost spilling energy drink all over herself, which Clarke and Raven knew meant she was extremely frustrated by the experience. “I am _not_ lazy, you guys.”

“We know, O” Clarke squeezed her shoulder. “They were probably saying those things just to spite you guys.”

“Oh my god, is _that_ the house of the party?”

Clarke and Octavia broke away from their moment to follow Raven’s awed gaze. They’ve been walking in this dirt road for a few minutes, surrounded by a few trees, and after just turning left they could spot from a distance the only house on the dead end road. It was a big house, way bigger than Bellamy and the boys’s. It had two floors with large balconies on the front, the wooden slightly old walls were painted in white, the roof had a brown reddish color and the windows in the front of the house were tall and had their frames painted in a similar color. There was a large crimson banner hanging from the second floor parapet, with AWFBT capital letters and an imposing lion head printed on it in gold and black.

As they approached the place the music was getting louder along with occasional cheering that usually comes with house parties. From the lack of people on the front, they could only assume the party was happening in the backyard. They stopped for a minutes unsure on how to proceed, if they should enter the house or walk around the place to reach the party noise. So they just stood there contemplating the magnitude of the house until Raven broke their silence.

“So princess, how excited are you to be in the same place as Lexa Woods?” 

Of course Raven wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Shut up.” Clarke muttered sending her friend a cold gaze.

“Why would Clarke be excited to see Lexa Woods?” Octavia looked between her friends slightly confused.

“Uh, because she is hot-stretching-girl? And Clarke has been searching all over for her the entire week we’ve been here?”

“LEXA WOODS is the stretching girl you have a major crush on???” Octavia asked them with the widest eyes, grabbing her friends’ arms to estabilize herself as if the world had just shifted under her feet.

“ _Jesus_ , Octavia, for a wide receiver you can be really _slow_ sometimes.”

Octavia shot Raven a death glare warning her on the sensitivity of the football subject.

“You two shut up!” Clarke hushed annoyed at their exchange. “Everybody in this goddam party knows hot-stretching-girl, so enough with this talk before somebody can hear us.”

They both lifted their hands in surrender.

"Let's go to the back of the house already, I'm dying to see _princess_ embarrass herself in front of the _commander_." Raven laughed as she dragged Octavia's arm forward.

Clarke took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This is what she wanted, right? She finally found hot-stretching-girl. Never mind that the girl is the goddess of Arkadia Football and that everybody in this school must worship the ground she walks on-

_Oh god._

Clarke has absolutely no chance with this girl.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for your patience and previous feedbacks :)  
> i've been playing around on tumblr with some social media stuff, find me on hellostranger23 to check it out!  
> let me know what you think and the next part should be up soon.


	4. Lake Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the girls enjoy the lake party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! here's the second part of the last chapter :)  
> i've decided to make an extra bigger one to compensate the division.  
> hope you like it!

None of the parties Clarke and Raven had been to this past week could compare to this one. 

Starting by locations, all backyards of the house parties they’ve attended looked pretty much the same: poorly unkempt grass, empty kegs waiting to be renewed, beer pong table set up, sometimes a small pool nobody dared to get inside and in one of the houses Clarke thinks she remembers seeing a swing set. 

This one was drastically different from all the others though.

It had a huge lake in the background to begin with. And this house seemed to be the only one with access to it for a few miles. The grass had been mowed recently, and there were a few trees providing refreshing shadows in this sunny day. There was a ceramic white tub filled with beers on ice and a table with a wide variety of bottles for people to mix their drinks. The ever present beer pong table currently held an enthusiastic match between people she’s never seen before, two girls versus two guys who were losing by a large margin.

The people there were different too. Clarke does not recall seeing any of those people on previous parties. They’re mostly girls, football girls she assumes. And some really strong guys, probably football players too. This was a _jock_ party Clarke realized, but it had nothing to do with the jocks Clarke’s seen before in high school or even in teen movies and stuff.

They dressed differently, with cropped tops, loose t-shirts with vintage prints on or plain colors with the hem and sleeves cut out. Some people wore ethnic patterns and colorful thin fabric shirts. It looked like a thrift shop threw up in the backyard. The only — very few — people wearing hats were girls, and it was those cute 5 panel ones, instead of sports hats that jocks usually wore and Clarke found completely obnoxious. Not one shirtless guy, which is definitely a first, specially since it is a lake party. These are most likely the cool people _,_ Clarke decided. And suddenly she feels like she had just been introduced into a new dimension. She definitely likes this change of scenario. 

 

Clarke has never seen a walking paradox like Lexa Woods.

She’s been watching the girl’s every movement with the corner of her eyes.

Everybody wants to talk to her, grab any small opportunity they have to share a funny moment with her or to engage in a small talk. She has been rotating groups of people like a politician in election season. It’s not like she seeks the attention, as far as Clarke can see, but rather somebody is always dragging her somewhere else that craves her presence. The girl actually seems a little annoyed at the constant battle of attention, always trying to root herself amongst the people she knows best.

Clarke knows she’s screwed.

She definitely doesn’t need Raven’s knowing smirk insistently pointed at her every time she catches Clarke staring at Lexa Woods.

Yet the whole thing feels stronger than her, like a magnetic pull. Clarke wants so badly to get a little sense of reality of the mystical creature that hot-stretching-girl has become to her for the last week, that she just can’t keep her eyes of the girl. If anything, the closeness has made things worse.

Clarke doesn’t think she would be able to sustain a proper conversation with the girl if the opportunity would arise. And Clarke is not used to feeling this troubled by someone’s mere existence. She usually doesn’t have a problem pursuing somebody she’d be interested in, but Lexa Woods just made her really self-conscious somehow.

Lexa was talking with the Hunter girl and two other guys. She had a serene expression on her face as she payed attention to what one of the guys was excitedly telling the group. Her hair was loose, with her light brown curls cascading her shoulders. She was wearing a white loose t-shirt with her sleeves rolled up, which allowed Clarke a better look at her right upper-arm tattoo. It was an intricate tribal pattern and Clarke wondered if it meant something. She was pleased that Lexa decided to change from her previously clothes, sporting now cut-off shorts, instead of her earlier skinny jeans, that displayed a pair of strong tanned legs that could go on for days. 

“You should take it easy on the staring, Griffin.”

Raven and Octavia sported similar knowing smirks as Clarke returned her attention to her friends.

It hasn’t been long since they found themselves in the party. Octavia had greeted some people from her team, made a little small talk, but everybody was still too sober to break the awkwardness of not knowing each other so well. Raven didn’t waste any time to grab them three bottles of Coronas from the white tub and they found themselves currently located at the end of the backyard, a few steps from the lake itself. It troubled Clarke a little bit that there wasn’t a fence separating the end of the backyard and the 25 inches dip that ended with water.

“Shut up.” She shot back smiling despite herself.

“Whose house do you think this is?” Octavia was eyeing the back of the two floors house with interest.

“No idea.” Raven offered. “It can’t be cheap though. Maybe this is one of those family vacation houses of one of your teammates?”

“But how weird is it to have a vacation house where you go to school?” Octavia countered. 

“It’s the coach’s, actually.”

The three of them turned to acknowledge a blonde girl that was standing a couple of feet behind Octavia. She took a quick sip at her red cup and flashed them an encouraging smile. She was really pretty.

“Harper.” The girl offered her hand to Octavia who was closest to her. “You’re a rookie, right?”

“Yeah, I’m Octavia.” She smiled at Harper and then introduced Raven and Clarke as her friends as they shook her hand.

“So the coach just lets the team host parties at her house?” Raven asked the girl with interest.

“No!” Harper laughed a little. “Part of the team lives here. Anya, Echo, Lexa, Kate and me, actually.” She counts mentally. “The coach rents us the place for a pretty good fare and we sort of have to take care of the house. You know, paint the walls from time to time, mow the lawn, that kinda thing.”

“That’s awesome.” Octavia said with awe in her voice. 

“You know, we’ll have three spots open for next year, since Anya, Echo and Lexa are graduating. You can always apply” Harper took another sip from her cup, soft eyes locked on Octavia. “It’s only for football players though.” She offers Clarke and Raven an apologetic smile.

“Oh.” Octavia is taken aback at the offer. “That’s all right, actually, but I’m probably gonna stay with my friends.” She smiles politely as she gestures from Raven to Clarke.

“So you’re not a senior?” Raven changes the subject clearly not wanting to entertain the idea of Octavia not living with them anymore.

“No, I’m a junior.” Harper offers them. “And a running back on the team.”

“But you’re friends with the seniors? I mean, the girls you live with?” Octavia asks her with something close to disbelief in her voice. Clarke guesses her friend is still very much intimidated by the girls from the earlier practice.

“I know they can be tough.” Harper chuckles probably sharing Clarke’s line of thought. “But they’re pretty chill outside the field. They just take football really seriously, specially Anya, ‘cause of scholarship and stuff.” 

Clarke takes a sip of her beer only to realize her bottle is empty. She chuckles at herself and offers to grab more to the rest of them who promptly accept. So she excuses herself and watches the party around her on her way to the white tub of beers.

Vampire Weekend’s _Unbelievers_ is playing from the speakers and Clarke catches herself humming along. The party is pretty lively, with excited chattering mixing with the music. Some people are throwing a football around, cheering whenever the pass is successful, Clarke thinks she might be changing her mind regarding the sport. She catches sight of Lexa when she reaches the white tub. The girl is on the other side of the backyard, closer to Clarke’s friends, but not enough for Clarke to have noticed before. She stands beside Anya, arms crossed loosely under her chest, right hand holding the neck of her beer bottle. Lexa had a very calm demeanor, very different from what Clarke’s seen on the football practice, but she reasons it makes sense with all the rush the game provides.

They’re talking lightly while they watch the exchange of passes from the people a few feet away. Clarke is staring again and the girl must’ve felt that burning sensation of being somebody’s object of study, because Lexa suddenly turns her face in her direction, locking her curious green eyes on Clarke who is startled by being caught and adverts her eyes as fast as she can to the beer bottles bellow in the tub in front of her. She can feel her face getting red and curses herself mentally,  _Get a grip, Griffin_.

Clarke quickly retrieves four bottles and dares to look up, relieved that Lexa’s attention is back at the football again. She makes a beeline at her friends, struggling a little bit with the very cold four bottles she’s carrying.

 

She doesn’t really get how this happened, but _of course_ it would happen.

 

As she approaches them, her fingers are numb from the coldness and Clarke tries to quickly hand them the bottles in her hand. She never had a chance, though. Something hits her hard on her back. It’s a somebody. And they both loose their footing, stumbling backwards really fast from the speed the person had collided with her.

And just like that they’re falling on their backs.

She fells the cold enveloping her more than she sees anything happening around, being dragged into the water so suddenly makes her weight carry her body deeper into lake. And Clarke swallows an unexpected gulp of water. The lake water is darker than she’s used to and she can’t see the person who dragged her down under the water. Clarke tries to find her footing to come up for air, but she can’t reach the ground, the lake is much deeper than she anticipated.

She doesn’t have time to freak out though, because soon enough somebody enters the water abruptly beside her and strong arms hold her torso immediately.

It’s Octavia and she prompts Clarke to put her arm around her shoulders and as quickly as her friend appeared, they are surfacing the water again.

“You ok?” Octavia asks her while still holding Clarke up. 

She manages to nod through her coughing fit.

A lot of people gathered to the edge of the backyard to see what was going on and Clarke wants to die right there because Lexa Woods is looking down on her with a worried expression on her face. Of course of all the people in the damn party _Clarke_ would be the one to be thrown at the lake.

“I’m SO sorry!” A very wet girl is already standing next to Lexa and Clarke finally meets her attacker, not that it matters, she doesn’t know the girl. She looks mortified at the situation and Clarke almost feels sorry for her. She definitely didn’t stumble on Clarke on purpose.

Octavia and Clarke close the small space to the brick wall gripping themselves on the edge and the wet girl crouches down to extend her hand for them. Clarke motions to accept it only to stop short at Lexa politely removing the girl’s hand from Clarke’s direction and extending hers as she crouches down in front of them.

“I believe you’ve done enough.” Lexa says to the girl. It’s not harsh, but her firm tone leaves no room for the girl to disagree. She nods nervously at Lexa and smiles apologetically at Clarke who reciprocates it.

Clarke takes Lexa’s hand, it’s soft and warm. And she feels those intense green eyes searching for her blue ones. She allows herself to look up as Lexa steadily pulls her out of the water.

Clarke stumbles forward a little bit and Lexa holds her in place, amused eyes trying to read Clarke’s flustered expression. Now that Clarke allowed herself to look into those beautiful green eyes from up close, she can’t seem to tear her gaze away from them. She tries to memorize the different shades of green, the gold freckles that sparkle in the sun and the pupils that are grounded at her very own.

“You all right, Griffin?” It’s Raven who breaks her from her reverie, concern on her voice.

Lexa drops her arms at her sides and Clarke misses the contact instantly, not able to stop her eyebrows from furrowing in betrayal. Clarke nods her confirmation at Raven as Anya is helping Octavia back onto the backyard.

“I’m not even sure what just happened.” Clarke finally finds her voice, a little hoarse from all the coughing.

“That, my friend, it’s what happens when the defense folks try to pull a long pass.” Anya offers her with an amused smile on her face as she and Octavia make their way towards them.

Octavia and Lexa chuckle at the remark and Clarke wishes she knew more about football to follow them. She shivers at the cold breeze that sweeps through them, hugging herself, suddenly very aware of her soaking wet clothes and the fact that Lexa Woods is standing just beside her looking slightly amused at the turn of events.

“You guys should change out of this wet clothes.” Harper voices her concern. 

“Come inside, I’m sure we can fetch you guys something.” 

It’s Lexa who offers it and Clarke’s heart skips a beat when she feels Lexa’s hand push briefly at the small of her back trying to lead her in the direction of the house. Octavia doesn’t have to be asked twice and starts walking towards the back entrance of the place with Lexa by her side. Clarke forces herself to follow them closely behind. 

They step inside into a large living room with several things scattered all over the place. 

“Please don’t mind the mess.” Lexa tells them with a timid smile. “It’s only like this on party days.” 

She leads them through the house into a hallway where Clarke assumes some of the girls’s rooms are. Lexa turns back to look at them as if trying to figure out their sizes. They’re not that different, Clarke thinks, Octavia is more fit of course, muscular even, maybe a size smaller, but their heights are pretty similar. Lexa’s eyes scan her figure and Clarke instinctively crosses her arms in front of her breasts a little self-consciously, Lexa's eyes snap up to meet Clarke’s and her cheeks turn pink declaring her staring rather guilty.

“You two can use that bathroom” Lexa points to the last door in the corridor behind them. “There’s some clean towels under the sink. I’m gonna grab t-shirts and shorts for you. Be back in a bit” 

They move down the hallway and enter the bathroom.

It’s a well-illuminated white tiled bathroom. The room is large for a bathroom, but Clarke thinks it makes sense, considering that five girls live there. There’s a cabinet with two sinks with a large mirror above on the wall, then the toilet and a big glass shower box. Octavia is offering her a towel and Clarke instinctively buries her face in it. It smells nice, like lavender, and she sighs in the softness of the fabric, glad to finally be drying herself up. 

“Pretty cool house, huh?” Octavia says checking the bathroom.

“Don’t you dare leave us behind for the fancy football lake house.”

They laugh at the idea at the same time as Lexa knocks on the door.

“Hey” She opens the door and hands them the pieces of clothing. Clarke finally manages to take a good look at Lexa’s other tattoo, on her left forearm, as she stretches it holding the clothes out for them to grab. It’s a dark mark — _the Death Eater’s dark mark_ — and Clarke’s eyes go wide from the tattoo straight up to meet Lexa’s amused expression. “Don’t worry, blondie, I’m not an actual Death Eater.” Lexa laughs at Clarke’s shocked expression upon her tattoo. And Clarke made a mental note to try and make her laugh again at some point because the raspy element in it was something Clarke could definitely get used to. “You guys can take a hot shower if you want. I believe these will fit you just fine.” She offers them a polite smile as Octavia takes the clothes from her hand and Lexa makes her way out.

“She totally called you ‘blondie’” Octavia laughs stressing the word.

“Shut up.” Clarke tries to scold her friend but is laughing along with her.

 

+++

 

Clarke and Octavia return to the backyard to find Raven socializing with quite a few girls. 

They’re rookies like Octavia and apparently they decided to approach after seeing them interact with some of the older girls. Clarke can’t help but find it funny how high school really is _never_ over. Octavia quickly entertains herself getting to know more of her teammates while Raven and Clarke casually talk about the previous events.

“Of course you’d be thrown in the lake in front of hot-stretching-girl.” Raven laughs out for only Clarke to hear.

“Ugh, I know, right? Why this things keep happening to me?”

“I don’t know, princess, but I’m glad my phone was on my hand and I got to snapchat your ass falling flat into lake.”

They burst out laughing as Clarke hurries to get her phone from Raven’s small backpack to check her Snapchat for the quick video — when she thinks about it now she is really glad that her phone wasn’t in her pocket earlier. It’s completely embarrassing and Clarke can’t help but love it. She is reading her friends’ reactions to the snap on their Whatsapp group when Raven speaks again.

“What did she say to you guys, inside the house?”

“Nothing much.” Clarke shrugs thinking back at their interaction and retrieving her phone to her back pocket now, figuring there’s no way she’s gonna fall in the lake again. “I did catch her checking out my boobs though.” She giggles.

“Can’t really blame her, right? You do have a great rack and you were wearing a wet t-shirt after all.” Raven pats Clarke’s back taking a chuckle out of the blonde. 

“I need a drink.” Clarke announces realizing she hasn’t picked up a beer on her way over there.

“Your wish is my command.” 

Lexa appears at her side out of nowhere and Clarke jumps at the sound of her voice withdrawing soft chuckle from Lexa, who offers her one of the four beers she has in her hands. Clarke pulls herself together and accepts it with an embarrassed smile and a faint “thanks”. Lexa also offers Raven one which she promptly takes discarding her empty bottle in a trash can right beside her.  

“So is this why they call you commander, _commander_?” Raven smirks taking a sip at her beer while she watches Lexa give Octavia the last extra bottle and turning to look at Raven with amusement in her eyes and a half smile.

“Something like that.” Lexa offers her taking a sip of her own beer. “I don’t believe we were properly introduced, I’m Lexa.” She extends her right hand out for Raven to shake it.

“I’m Raven. One of Octavia’s roommates.” 

Lexa turns to Clarke offering her hand as well. 

“And I’m Clarke. The other roommate.”

Lexa’s hand is just as warm and soft as before and Clarke likes the way her hand feels against her own.

Clarke is very much aware of the several pair of eyes looking at them right now as the conversation of the rookies stopped unceremoniously the second Lexa approached their circle. Lexa hasn’t let go of Clarke’s hand yet and Clarke doesn’t think she wants her to. She looks at Clarke’s face as if she is searching for something and Clarke doesn’t dare to break their eye contact. Raven clears her throat and Lexa immediately ends their handshake not looking disturbed in the slightest by the interruption. 

“You look good on my t-shirt.” She offers Clarke without actually looking down at the t-shirt in question, still sustaining their intense eye contact.

Clarke blushes furiously not realizing the soft mix gray t-shirt she was currently wearing belonged to Lexa. Clarke breaks their eye contact then, having her eyes settle on Octavia instead, who is following this the interaction with interest, her lips turning up when her eyes meet Clarke’s.

“I’ll give it to, O and she can return it to you at one of your practices.” Clarke turns to look at Lexa again trying her best to hide how nervous she is to be wearing the girl’s shirt. She really hopes she doesn’t start sweating now, Clarke really doesn’t need that.

Lexa seems satisfied with the proposition nodding her understatement at Octavia. The girl is not much of a talker, that much Clarke had realized so far, and the circle falls into a long awkward silence. The rookies looking mesmerized to have Lexa among them.

“Are you enjoying the party?” Lexa addresses her question at Octavia this time. “Aside from your previous accident.” She motions towards the lake with her head.

“Uh-I-uh- yeah. Of course. Everything is perfect.” Octavia’s cheeks are pink and Clarke suddenly is very entertained at the fact that Lexa manages to leave Octavia flustered every time they interact directly. “And thank you so much for the dry clothes.” Octavia finishes more gracefully.

“HEY, COMMANDER!"

They all turn to look at the direction of the intruding shout across the backyard to find Anya with her hands around her mouth to propagate her call at Lexa.

“Get your ass over here, let’s sweep Echo’s invincibility at the beer pong.”

Lexa turns back at them and offers a small smile excusing herself.

“Sorry ladies, duty calls.”

And she spins on the heels of her black Chuck Taylors and jogs her way out to Anya, her curls swinging majestically from side to side over her back and shoulders. 

“Lexa Woods is flawless.” One of the rookies exhales in a deep sigh. 

“I would give a kidney to have her hair.” Another is quick to add. 

“I heard someone say her hands are insured for $10,000.”

“One time she met Tom Brady on a plane and he took a selfie with her.” 

Raven’s eyes meet Clarke’s while she holds her laughter as best as she can.

“Damn.” They deliver together with big smiles on their faces for the fourth time this week.

 

+++

 

The girls enjoyed themselves throughout the afternoon, sipping beers, making snapchats of the lake view to tease their absent friends and getting to know some of Octavia’s teammates occasionally. Clarke even took the opportunity of the beautiful sunset to update her Instagram account. She was a little disappointed though that they hadn’t interacted with Lexa anymore, the girl being very engaged in the beer pong ever since their last conversation.

The party had died down considerably now that it was dark, the music was not as loud and half of the people had already found their way home. 

After the sun had set, the three of them decided to sit at the back porch, enjoying the nice buzz of the alcohol as they followed another beer pong match happening near them. Lexa and Anya had been winning non-stop with the latter revealing herself to be a terrible winner, teasing endlessly the duos they defeated. Lexa had just shot the white ball inside a cup for the third time in a row when Raven nudged Clarke’s ribs with her elbow.

“We could take ‘em.”

“You’re drunk.”

“‘m not.” Raven pushed. “C’mon, we can totally wipe their smug faces.”

“Dude, Lexa hasn’t missed a ball since we’ve been sitting here watching.” It’s Octavia who counteracts this time. “Girl’s the best quarterback there is, she can put any ball wherever she wants.”

“First of all: _ew_.” Raven makes a disgusted face. “Second of all: look at you stanning Lexa like it’s your job. And third of all: beer pong is physics. No one here is better at physics than me.” 

Before any of them can protest Raven’s reasoning, Lexa and Anya are proclaimed winners one more time receiving a round of cheer from the few people standing by the table. Anya emphatically raises her arms and asks “Who’s next?” and at that Raven is already on her feet getting the girl’s attention.

“Princess and I.”

Raven is drunk and calling her Princess in front of the whole party.

Lexa looks pleased with the new contestants and that’s what makes Clarke get up to her feet as well. She follows Raven to the other side of the table trying to look as confident as her slightly drunken state allows herself and they face their opponents. They start lining the 10 cups in place and filling them with some beer. Octavia has made her way to be nearer the table, standing next to Harper who quickly engages in a conversation with her.

“Winning team starts.” Anya calls.

“Nah, let them.” Lexa counters to her partner’s surprise.

Raven scoffs at Lexa’s nonchalance towards them and catches the ball with her hands when Lexa throws it her way. Raven weighs the small ball in her hand scanning carefully the cups across from them, suddenly looking almost sober. Clarke just waits, she knows Raven likes to start with a clear, precise shot. The girl fixes her posture and throws the ball in one swift move, making it fall in the cup at tip of the triangle with a small splash. Octavia whistles at them, Anya furrows her eyebrows realizing she might’ve underestimated her opponents and Lexa curiously grins at Raven, happy to finally find decent competition. 

“Smooth.” Lexa offers Raven sincerely and the girl can’t help the proud smirk that graces her features.

Anya downs the first cup of beer and hands Lexa the small ball for her to take their first shot. She sets her shoulders straight and takes her time considering the cups in front of her. Clarke notices that Lexa suddenly became more competitive now that she witnessed Raven’s potential. Green eyes are trained at the cups in their left and Lexa flicks the ball easily in that direction, ball landing inside the cup on the further end of the table. Clarke almost forgets that this means her team lost a cup at the sight of the cute little fist bump Lexa does. Raven takes the ball from inside and raises the cup in Lexa’s direction in a mock toast, but she is interrupted by Clarke’s hand reaching for the cup. She takes it from her friend’s hand and drinks the beer in big gulps her eyes locked on green ones.

Raven lifts the ball and starts searching for a desired cup.

“Aren’t you gonna let _princess_ play?” Lexa raises her eyebrows at them, testing the nickname in her mouth. Clarke has to admit that she likes the goosebumps that it sends through her spine. Raven smirks at Lexa’s challenging tone and nods once in acknowledgment handing Clarke the small ball.

She is not as good as Raven, or Lexa for that matter, but Clarke knows her away around a beer pong game. It doesn’t help her much that the whole party — now shortened to around fifteen people — is currently following the game and expecting her throw. She takes a deep breath, chooses a cup in the middle section and shoots the small ball.

“YES!” She catches herself shouting as the ball lands inside the cup. Raven high fives her and Clarke turns her attention forward in time to catch Lexa’s half smile at her enthusiasm.

 

+++

 

The match is lasting longer than it should.

And it’s not because they keep missing the cups, they almost always score. However Lexa and Raven had become the epitome of competitive, thinking hard and too long before their shots, calculating their risks more than the appropriated time before making a move. It’s almost endearing if it wasn’t so frustrating. Specially since that makes Clarke and Anya sweat themselves not to disappoint their very passionate beer pong partners.

The game is at a tie three cups left in each side of the table, with their opponents having the upper hand. The rest of the party left at this point, leaving only the girls that live in the house, Clarke, Raven and Octavia all gathered at the beer pong table with Lorde’s first album playing softly in the speakers.

It’s Lexa’s turn and she is taking way too long. 

So long that Clarke has engaged in the weird conversation Octavia and Harper are having beside her.

“No but, like, if you _had_ to choose one person, who would it be?” Harper inquired Octavia expectantly.

“I honest to God-“

“FUCK YES!”

Clarke has never seen Lexa Woods so vocal.

To be fair all of them are pretty drunk at this point.

Lexa just left Clarke and Raven with only two cups against their three.

It’s Clarke’s turn to throw while Raven bitterly finishes the cup in quick sips.

“What about you, Woods?” Harper shoots directing her previous conversation topic now to the quarterback, forgetting to press Octavia some more for her answer. 

“What about me?” Lexa asks confused taking a sip at her beer bottle, her voice sounding different in her tipsy state, like the words are too big for her mouth. Clarke can’t help the corner of a smile turning upward a little bit at that.

“If you were to be someone’s sexual slave, to whom would you like to be?” 

“Alisson Mosshart.”

Lexa doesn’t even blink at her own answer, just takes another sip at her beer. Clarke can feel her face warmer at the sudden discovery that Lexa indeed likes girls, apparently _very_ much so. Everybody turns to face Lexa waiting for her to elaborate, the beer pong game forgotten for now. 

“Was that far too quick an answer?” Lexa chuckles amused at herself behind one more sip.

“You seem to already have given this _some_ thought.” Anya snickers at her side electing a good laugh from the girls around the table. Lexa just shrugs at the comment not really minding exposing her famous crush.

“The Kills is my go-to sex soundtrack.” Lexa states matter-of-factly and looks at Clarke like she just knows this conversation is causing a short circuit in the blonde’s brain.  “Aren’t you gonna shoot, blondie?”

Clarke is caught of guard, mouth dry at the unexpected mental image that invaded her brain, of Lexa’s head between her thighs while _Future Starts Slow_ plays faintly inside her head. A sharp heat reaches her center and she shakes her head quickly to defog the scenario in her mind.

Clarke collects herself and trails her gaze to the remaining three cups in front of her, working really hard to block the sex conversation that continues around her, now only a buzz in her ears. She settles in a cup to her right, straightens her back and takes her shot at the same time that Raven is saying “Frank Ocean” to her left. She scores and lifts her arms up in an overly excited gesture.

“Your turn to share with us, blondie.” Lexa picks up the cup taking the small ball from inside and smirks behind it while she drinks the beer. “What is your sex soundtrack?”

Clarke’s mind is currently a blank buzzing with the amount of beer in her system and the insistent sex topic. Why do people have the need to talk about this kind of stuff? She feels overwhelmed at having to deal with all of this at once, the pressure to win at beer pong, her no more just-tipsy-but-actual-drunken state, and Lexa Woods talking about sex music with that _sexy_ smirk on her face and her intimidating green eyes staring straight into Clarke’s wide blue ones. Her mouth is hanging open and she has been silent for a little too long considering Raven just waved a hand in her face. 

“Uh-“ _Very eloquent, Clarke, well done_. “The xx?”

It comes out more of a question, but it’s the first thing that comes to her mind: unwelcome flashes of Finn on top of her at the soft beat of _Islands_. She actually hates how somehow the band has become attached to her ex-boyfriend.

“It doesn’t sound like you have been having much sex, honey.” It’s Anya who comments and it is light-hearted so Clarke doesn’t take offense in the contrary remark. “That shit is for making _love_.” She singsongs, mocking her own statement placing a hand on her chest and fanning herself with her other hand. They laugh at Anya's antics, Clarke allowing herself to join at the expense of herself.

Lexa nudges Anya to take the ball as it is her turn to throw it. There’s only two cups remaining at each side of the table, but they have the upper hand against Raven and Clarke again. She feels Raven tense up in anticipation at the taller girl’s shot. Anya takes her time deciding between the two cups. She inhales deeply throwing the small ball and it looks like she put too much strength in it, yet the ball reaches one of the cups swirling with speed inside, converting the point one more time to her team. They high five with both hands up, excited to be one cup away from another victory under their belt. Raven offers Clarke the cup, small ball already at her hand while she scans carefully the two cups across from them.

Clarke takes the cup with pleasure, feeling the need to cool down her insides a little bit. She drinks it with no rush, considering Raven is probably gonna take forever to make her shot. Clarke is really glad this responsibility is not on her shoulders, she already feels a little bit bad at having missed a couple of balls on previous rounds. At least they reclaimed the close margin throughout the match, with Anya’s small share of missed shots as well. Raven and Lexa scores remained spotless.

Clarke almost misses Raven’s shot so quiet that it was. The ball makes its way inside one of the cups easily and Clarke hugs her friend’s side gushing at her perfect technique. Raven grins wickedly and looks at Lexa with challenge in her eyes.

“Let’s see what you’re made of, commander.”

Lexa takes the ball and hands Anya the cup, which she drinks unceremoniously. She swirls the small ball in her hand then lifts her eyes to meet Raven’s challenging ones, her stare is serene, almost hazy from all the beer she’s been drinking. She lifts her right arm, ball already in position for the throw, eyes never leaving Raven’s.

“I can see you’re new here.”

And just like that she shoots the ball, not for one second looking down from Raven’s eyes, not stealing a single glance at the only cup remaining at their side of the table and apparently not needing all that time she was taking before her previous shots, because the ball falls inside the last cup with a _plop_.

The girls around them erupt with cheer and exclamations at the last point converted to Lexa and Anya. Raven’s mouth is hanging open incredulously at Lexa’s effortless shot. The quarterback offers a sympathetic smile in her direction, shrugging her shoulders who are being squeezed by Anya’s excited hands. Clarke nudges Raven to take the last cup, she would drink it in order to prevent her friend from having to drink the token of their defeat, then again Clarke doesn’t think her body can handle any more beer.

Anyway, it kinda looks like Raven needs it more since her mouth is still hanging open from the end of the game.

 

+++

 

After the rush of the game was over it was pretty clear everybody was nearly wasted.

Even their audience, who apparently had been drinking the entire time of the seemingly endless match, is having difficulty formulating proper sentences.

They call it a night right after the end of it, saying their goodbyes and nice to meet you’s in drunken slurred words and quick hugs. Clarke decides she loves how physical and affectionate drunk Lexa is, hugging her with her whole warm body, strong arms tightening Clarke against her, even if it was for just a few seconds. Clarke doesn’t restrain herself from burying her face quickly in Lexa’s curls, inhaling deeply the smell of her flowery shampoo.

Clarke is _so_ screwed.

Octavia had texted her brother requesting a ride home for the three of them. There was no way they would make it to their house in one piece at this point. They are walking the side of the house towards the front yard, supporting themselves against each other for balance, to wait for Bellamy’s truck to rescue their sorry drunken asses. Octavia stumbles at her own feet, and Raven rescues her positioning herself at Octavia’s left side, prompting the girl to throw her arm around Raven’s shoulders all the while Raven is still babbling non-stop about the magnitude of their beer pong game. Clarke giggles at them and almost trips at nothing, escalating their laughters even more.

“Blondie!”

Clarke turns on her heels too fast for her lack of balance, losing her footing once more only to be rescued by Lexa’s strong tattooed arms who were right behind her.

This night keeps getting better.

“You forgot your wet clothes.” Lexa shakes a plastic bag in her hand, signalizing its existence, while not taking her arms from Clarke’s sides.

“Oh my God! Thank you so much!” Clarke is drunk and deep down she knows she is being overly thankful at the simple gesture, but she can’t stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She moves her hands to Lexa’s shoulders avoiding the girl from pulling out of their loose embrace.

They hear a honk, which means Bellamy is already impatiently waiting for them at the dirt road up front. Octavia and Raven don’t stop on their tracks, moving forward as best as they can carrying their giggles in the direction of Bellamy’s truck, completely oblivious of Clarke’s interaction with Lexa.

“Who’s that?” Lexa asks with furrowed eyebrows trying to look ahead at the direction of the intruding sound. 

“That’s just Bellamy” Clarke answers, her voice low and happy, not moving from Lexa’s loose arms around her waist. Both of them blatantly ignoring that Clarke is fairly capable of standing on her own.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Lexa turns her gaze back to Clarke who is chuckling at the absurd idea of Bellamy being her boyfriend. However when green eyes meet hers searching them for an answer, Clarke feels intoxicated with her breath caught in her throat. She forgets what she was about to say.

“So green.” Clarke mumbles lost in the sight of Lexa’s stare.

When Lexa’s expression turns pleased at her, Clarke realizes she actually voiced her words instead of just thinking them. She quickly tries to move past it. “No, uh, he’s Octavia’s brother.”

Lexa hums an acknowledgment not tearing her eyes from Clarke. They hear a second honk and Clarke assumes the girls reached him and are only waiting for her to join them to leave. She wishes she didn’t have to go, but finds her voice betraying her.

“I should get going.” It’s almost a whisper, but they’re so close that Lexa hears it, and she is nodding once in agreement, yet not moving in the slightest for Clarke to leave her embrace.

Lexa leans forward ever so slowly and Clarke looses all of her ability to think. She is so close that Clarke instinctively shuts her eyes, holding her breath silently in anticipation. She feels Lexa’s warm breath in her cheek before her soft lips meet her skin there. Lexa presses her lips firmly on Clarke’s right cheek, sending a shiver through her body. Clarke squeezes Lexa's shoulders lightly in appreciation and feels Lexa’s left hand reciprocate the touch on her waist.

She wants more of it, of the soft lips, warm breath against her skin and heat circulating through all of her body. But it all ends too fast, with Lexa retracting herself from their embrace, offering Clarke a small sweet smile and extending the plastic bag in her hand for Clarke to take.

“May we meet again.” It’s low, firm and Clarke wonders if she hears a hint of hope in it. Clarke nods and bites her bottom lip, not trusting her voice. She accepts the plastic bag from Lexa’s hand. 

Lexa turns away to jog back to her backyard, beautiful curls swinging from one side to the other. Clarke wishes she could remember how to use her legs to run after the girl.

Another honk startles her and she realizes she is planted by herself there, so she finds the strength to make her way in the direction of her friends.

 

+++

 

When Clarke lays in her bed later that night, her cheek is still burning where Lexa Woods kissed her goodnight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sigh.  
> that was fun to write!  
> next chapter will be written from Lexa's perspective. hope you're into that ;)  
> i'll be uploading this week more fun social media stuff on tumblr, be sure to check it out on hellostranger23 :P  
> let me know what you think, i really appreciate the nice feedback i've been receiving on this. <3  
> ____
> 
> music mentioned in this chapter:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkvMeGl9bpc  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiLjuRG3hoE  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeLLKHhvbdk&list=PLLm0j8MHVlqqkwj6bc1ZvX-d2phbl8R-R  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElhV8z7I60


	5. Lexa Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lexa is given the responsibility to train a rookie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everybody!  
> i'm a little nervous to give you Lexa's POV, but i sincerely hope you like it.  
> i'm not sure yet if this is going to be a recurring thing, but i wanted to explore the whole Lexa-Octavia football dynamic a little bit and this seemed to be the best way to do it.  
> anyway, here it is, enjoy :P

She wakes up from the vibrating outburst her phone starts providing at 6:00AM against her bedside table.

A body shifts behind her, lose arm coming to rest over her waist.

_Shit._

This wasn’t supposed to be a sleepover sort of thing.

Lexa quickly shuts her phone, hoping it hasn’t properly awoken the girl behind her, and stealthily untangles herself from the loose embrace recently brought upon her. She stands for a minute beside her own bed eyeing the body sound asleep around the covers. The girl looks peaceful.

 _Still_ , this wasn’t supposed to be a sleepover sort of thing.

Lexa had places to be, she wanted to go through her morning routine before her 8AM meeting with Indra, and waking her one-night-stand to awkwardly say their goodbyes and try to send her away without it compromising her schedule would definitely be a challenge. She can’t help the frustrated sigh that escapes her lips. She puts the covers more upward a little bit against the girl’s naked torso and carefully brushes a few thin dark braids away from her face.

Lexa is the most glad about her planning habits in times like these. Her gym bag is already fixed by the door and her workout clothes sit neatly in her desk chair. She goes silently about putting them on, and tries not to feel guilty for escaping her own room as quickly as possible to avoid doing the morning after routine with the girl in her bed. They had specifically talked about this being a casual thing, there was no reason for Lexa to feel guilty, right?

There was _also_ no reason for her to put the girl in the awkward position of waking up in somebody else’s house with them nowhere to be found without so much as a word of explanation. So that’s why Lexa is quickly scribbling a note to leave at her bedside table.

 _  
Hey Arabella,_  
_Sorry, had to run for a meeting_  
_Make yourself comfortable :)_  
_See you in GS next week  
_ _xx_  

  
That would do.

Lexa grabbed her gym bag and slung it across her middle, then fished her phone from the bedside table and plugged her earbuds in it. She closed the door as quietly as she could and climbed down the stairs in the same manner. It was early, which meant most of the girls on the house weren’t out of bed yet. Except for Echo, she knew the girl would be downstairs fixing herself some nutritious breakfast, even though there was really no reason for the earliest of morning routines. Lexa had stopped trying to understand why the girl was always up with the sunrise with no apparent reason.

As she crossed the living room, sure as always, Lexa spotted Echo mixing something in a bowl behind the kitchen counter. She acknowledged Lexa’s presence with a nod and a small smile. Echo knew the quarterback was not a morning talker, specially since she hadn’t had her coffee yet. Lexa brushed past Echo, squeezing the girl’s shoulder as a good morning greeting, and went straight to the coffee pot. She poured the liquid in her thermos as she checked her phone for the time. 6:12AM. She better hurry if she wanted to get her workout and shower done before 8AM.

As Lexa was moving out of the kitchen with her filled thermos in hand, she turned around at Echo’s whispered ‘ _psst’_ just in time to catch the apple the fullback player was throwing her way. Lexa offered her an earnest smile and headed outside for her bike. 

The morning breeze was getting colder by the weeks signalizing the slow beginning of fall. Lexa shoved the apple inside her gym bag and quickly hopped on the bike, balancing herself with only one hand on the handlebar, the other firmly holding her thermos as steadily as possible. Soon she was paddling comfortably in the dirt road, taking furtive sips at her coffee and allowing herself to take the other hand from the handlebar to press play in the small controller of her earbud’s chord.

This was one of the best parts of her days, biking through the morning breeze, neighborhood dead quiet around her, warm fresh coffee on her lips and Chet Faker playing smoothly in her ears.

 

+++

 

Lexa always started with her yoga routine.

She would set her gym bag and yoga mat in the middle of the football field and go about her positions quietly and purposefully. She always liked to try and pull a little harder on the stretches, the burning sensation that filled her muscles was a pleasant one. Her breathing, steady and even, was what set her rhythm and her practiced routine was timed to end precisely in 45 minutes.

The feeling afterwards was incredibly refreshing, like her lungs were suddenly cleaner and able to fit more air. She always felt like her laps ran more smoothly after yoga and this time wasn’t different, for this part of the training though, she preferred to have soundtrack, so she browsed through her phone to find _Lemonade_ , always mentally cursing Beyoncé for not putting the damn thing on Spotify.

Lexa loved running.

This was probably _the_ best part of her days.

Yeah, biking to the field felt good.

But running _in_ the field felt _great_.

She loved the air cutting through her face, the tension that started with her heels smashing the grass and ended with the pressure she put in her shoulders to maintain a perfect running posture. Most people didn’t know this, but there is a _right_ way to run. You have to synchronize your whole body, one movement ending with the beginning of another, the breathing has to be in long breaths that enter through your nose and leave through your mouth, filling your lungs with burning cold air. It wasn’t about speed, but stability and uniformity.

She had to skip a few songs — not that it mattered much, she wasn’t a big fan of the slightly gospel ones —, in order to spare her a few minutes for a quick shower before meeting Indra. Beyoncé was just about to start _Formation_ , a moment in which Lexa allows herself to slow her running gradually to a pleasant jog, when she noticed another person running suicides on the other side of the field.

The reason Lexa was always this early on the field was precisely to avoid company through her workout. The glare Lexa sent in the girl’s direction was practically involuntary, making the younger brunette loose her running rhythm for a second and quickly adverting her eyes from Lexa’s.

This would not work, so Lexa gave up on the jogging part of her training and made her way to her gym bag in the middle of the field. As Lexa walked towards the center, she watched the other girl run fiercely to the 10th yard mark, only to return running to the touchdown mark; and then back again advancing this time one more yard line, reaching the 15th and turning back again to run for the touchdown line one more time.

_Wrong._

Lexa couldn’t help herself to disapprove of the girl’s line of training. _Why would she start her training with the most draining drill there is?_ She shook her head mostly to herself, crouching down at her gym bag and grabbing her water bottle and the apple Echo handed her earlier. Lexa took long gulps, steadying her breathing through her nose before getting up and heading to the locker room chewing on her apple. As the girl reached the 20th yard line, she chanced a glance up at Lexa who met the girl’s uncertain eyes and offered her an acknowledgment nod. Lexa never expected the grin that cracked the girl’s face at the mere gesture. She wished she remembered the name of the rookie. _Olivia Block, was it?_ Ugh, Lexa was the worst at this.

She headed to the team facilities, offering a polite smile at the cleaning staff lady that was mopping the glass doors and went straight to reach the locker room. It was empty still at this hour, but Lexa noticed a few bags and open lockers meaning some girls had gotten there to use the gym. She put her stuff in her own locker, imposing 13 WOODS block letters in the front of the metal door with a beautiful graffiti-like lettering right underneath that read _Commander_.

It appeared there the day after she led the team to wining their first nationals with her as captain, one of the most difficult games of her life, and she was yet to find out who did the artwork. Not that she didn’t like it, she secretly loved it, but the girls had an unspoken rule to not reveal who started the beginning of the _Commander Dynasty_ — yes, that’s how they chose to call her period as their captain. Lame, _she knows_. But the girls accepted her position as captain with such ease that she could’ve never dreamt of complaining about the nickname. She was only a freshman, and the team was at pieces that season with the unfortunate series of events that were slowly making them loose their most-likely-to-take-nationals status. Lexa accepted the challenge to elevate the team back to its place and none of them ever looked back at those hard days. They were _her_ team now and she was grateful for the trust they put into her.

Lexa retrieved her shower bag and a towel from her locker and headed to the last shower in the corridor, her favorite. She tried to be as quick as possible, taming her hair as best as she could with the little time she had. Fifteen minutes proved to be miraculously sufficient and Lexa was drying herself still in her shower box when two girls entered the locker room talking about something Lexa couldn’t quite catch. She made sure to put her sports bra and underwear on before wrapping herself in the towel and heading back to her locker. She hated the slightest possibility to be naked in the locker room. Most girls didn’t really have a problem with that, since they all have been frequenting locker rooms at least since high school, but Lexa never really got used to it. The girls were stripping and wrapping themselves in towels, proving Lexa’s point, when she reached her locker.

“Hey, commander.” She recognized them as being part of the defense team and offered them brief tight lipped smiles.

The team was used to Lexa’s lack of eloquence and never really expected much interactions from her part, and in her defense Lexa really didn’t deal well with this kind of locker room socializing, hence her very early workout routine to avoid interactions.

She quickly rummaged through her gym bag for her casual clothes, black skinny jeans and a t-shirt, when she heard another person entering the locker room. Lexa sat on the bench to put her pants on and was surprise to see the rookie from the field making her way to her locker, five down from Lexa’s, apparently already shutting down her workout. _No wonder she’s already tired_ , Lexa thought still disapproving of the girl’s choices.

With her pants on, Lexa stood up removing the towel altogether from herself. She couldn’t help to feel amused at the stolen glances she could feel the girl throwing her way while opening her locker, but Lexa refrained from looking back, sparing the girl the embarrassment of being caught staring at Lexa’s semi-naked torso. She threw her t-shirt on unceremoniously, grabbed her gym bag and closed her locker with an annoyingly loud metal bang, the rookie was startled and this time Lexa couldn’t help the chuckle from escaping her lips.

The coach’s office was at the end of the hall and Lexa jogged lightly in the direction of the door, she made sure to check her phone for the time before knocking, knowing well that Indra didn’t like to be interrupted earlier than the agreed hour. 8:13AM. _Fuck_ , she didn’t like to be kept waiting either. Lexa knocked twice on the door.

“Come in, Woods.”

She entered the room and closed the door behind her. The coach’s office was very simple, _pragmatic_ if you will, and was a perfect reflection of the woman sitting behind the big wooden desk. Lexa was already used to the place so she didn’t marveled at the team posters and trophies carefully exposed in the walls, shelves and cabinets, however she still waited standing by the door for the coach to instruct her to take a sit.

“I’m sorry I’m late, coach.” Most people wouldn’t mind a 13 minute tardiness; coach Indra was not most people though.

“Have a sit, I don’t have much time.” Indra gestured for the empty chair.

Lexa did as told, placing her gym bag by her feet and listened as Indra went straight to the point.

“As you are well aware I’m going to loose several great players coming next season. Although none will strike the team harder than the loss of their commander.” It always felt bigger when it was Indra calling her that, and Lexa sit up straighter at the notion. “I’ve been going through the boot camp assessments, mine and your own, and I believe we’re going to have a difficult season. The rookies came _very_ green.”

“I have to agree, coach.” Lexa knew Indra had more to say and didn’t really engage in discussions, she stated facts, expressed her opinions and demanded results. Lexa’s part was to interpret those statements and reach said goals.

“Yes.” Indra held Lexa’s eyes in an intense stare before resuming. “That’s why I’m going to need you to personally train…” She looked down at a sheet of paper. “Octavia Blake.”

Lexa was stunned to say the least.

“Sorry?” Was all that she could manage.

“I’m going to need you to personally train Octavia Blake.” Indra spoke a volume louder.

Give it to coach Indra to interpret Lexa’s astonishment as a hearing problem.

“You want me to train Blake as a quarterback?” Lexa knew better than to counter coach’s orders, but this _really_ made no sense. Octavia Blake (at least now she remembered the girl’s name properly) was a _fine_ wide receiver, Lexa would give her that, but to transform her in a quarterback was nothing short to overachievement. Not to mention Lexa was not very fond of the idea of the girl following her exact same steps in the team.

“Don’t be silly, Woods.” Indra snickered. “I want you to train her to succeed you as next captain.”

As if that was not _still_ a silly request.

Lexa refrained from voicing her thoughts and continued to stare at Indra, not being able to come up with a proper response.

“I know it’s nothing short of a stretch, to bet on a freshman- Well, _sophomore_ coming next season, to lead the team. But I reasoned that this could work — this has worked“ She pointedly looked at Lexa to make her case. “— if she learned from you right at the beginning.” She waited a few seconds before continuing. “You cannot disagree that the girl has potential as wide receiver, you can shape her to be her best version if you two train close enough.”

“Training her as wide receiver and training her as captain are very different things” Lexa knew she was being bold with this, yet she couldn’t refrain from exposing her doubts. “And I haven’t played wide receiver in three years, I’m sure Niylah would be a better fit for this.”

She wouldn’t.

And both Lexa and Indra knew it. Which was precisely why Indra was looking at Lexa as if her patience was thinning by the seconds.

“ _Lexa._ ” Weirdly enough Lexa was more intimidated when the coach used her first name. “Why are you fighting me on this?”

“I do not believe I’ll have the time to babysit some rookie.” It comes out way harder than Lexa intended and the widening of Indra’s eyes make Lexa’s blood drain away from her face. “I’m sorry, coach- This is not- I did not mean to say _that_.” Indra goes unbearably silent and Lexa is taken with the need to fill the awkward silence. “It’s just that this is my senior year, the whole school is expecting us to bring the cup home a fourth time. The team is counting on me to guide us there. Not to mention I’ve been dealing with an overwhelming amount of classes and extra credits to land the perfect internship after school.” She takes a deep breath. “I just feel like I have a lot on my plate right now.”

“Your previous statement made more sense.” Indra replied turning back to her collected expression. “You and I both know handling responsibilities and a full schedule is not a problem for you. Interacting directly with people, allowing them access into your mind, _is_.”

Lexa remained silent. She could not argue with that.

“Is your grandmother all right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She knew the coach was trying to ask if family matters were the reason for Lexa being reluctant on training the rookie without being invasive. Lexa appreciated that.

Indra released a deep sigh.

“The girl might never actually be captain.” That got Lexa’s attention and she furrowed her brows encouraging the coach to elaborate. “Wide receiver is not a common position for a captain. However, this team will need a strong leader next season and I believe the girl has what it takes to fill your shoes. The rest of the team, from sophomores to juniors, is used to having you lead them, none of them would be able be captain convincingly after you. The girl is _fresh_ , you can shape her.”

Lexa chewed on her bottom lip anxiously sensing she wouldn’t be able to get out of this.

“Blake is hungry.” Indra continued “She showed the most promise during boot camp, she challenged you in the last day, it’s palpable how much she wants an opportunity to be of service for the team.”

Lexa knew the coach had a point. Blake had been trying the hardest for a chance to play on the starting team. Lexa couldn’t deny the girl _some_ credit for challenging the quarterback at try outs. Yet she was still on the fence if the rookie had what it takes to carry the team through a season.

“She reminds me of you, you know.” Indra interrupted Lexa’s thoughts. “When you first got here you were willing to do _anything_ for this team. And you did. You went back to quarterback because the team needed one. You elevated yourself into captain because the team demanded one.” Indra stared intensely at her. “I need your assistance in making this girl the best player and teammate she can possibly be. The team needs this.”

Lexa found her self nodding in agreement. She knew the team was about to lose some of the best players they ever had, it would be extremely hard for the younger girls next season to continue as if everything was the same. If Indra’s plan was successful, Blake would become a strong part of this season and could rise to be a true leader for the team in the following year.

“I understand, coach.” She conceded finally. “I will do anything in my power for the team until the end of this season.”

“I’m glad.” Indra’s shoulders relaxed in the slightest from Lexa’s agreement. “You are to go about this as you please. Work some schedule with her, assess where she needs your guidance the most. We’ll discuss her process periodically.” Lexa nodded getting up to her feet well aware that the coach was dispensing her.

“One more thing though” Lexa turned around, her hand already in the doorknob. “It’s probably wise not to share with her what is expected of this. I’d rather see if the leadership blossoms in her naturally.”

“Of course.” Lexa nodded her understatement.

Indra turned her attention to her papers and Lexa led herself out of the room, million things running through her mind. _Shit_. She had absolutely no idea how to start this thing with Blake. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket and she was met with a text notification from Anya.

 

 **Anya  
** **today, 8:32AM**

How did you manage to get  
Zoë Kravitz into your bed?

Get the fuck out of my room.

Geez  
What’s gotten into you, commander?  
The girl was leaving your bedroom  
the same time I was leaving mine.

Sorry.  
Coach just fucked my life.

Ain’t that old news?  
Wanna grab lunch after class?

Same place, 1PM?

See ya.

 

+++

 

When Lexa arrived at Gustus’ at the agreed time, she felt a warm feeling in her chest. It was good to be back at campus’ life, she certainly missed her favorite spots.

She locked her bike in one of the vacant spots in the parking rack at the facade of the sandwich shop and made her way in. The place hadn’t change at all after the summer break, its turquoise walls and weird decoration actually had remained the same ever since Lexa and Anya entered the place at random their freshman year. The place was rather small, few tables in the middle and some tall stools at bar tables by the walls, it was never crowded at this hour and most people came by only to order their sandwiches to-go. Lexa and Anya liked to always sit at the same table and enjoy the homemade ice tea for as long as their lunch breaks allowed them.

Lexa spotted Anya by the end of the three people ordering line and quickly made her way towards the girl.

“Took you long enough.” Anya offered her without taking her eyes from the chalk board menu behind the counter.

“My class was at the other side of campus.” Lexa answered directing her gaze to the menu as well, which also remained the same from the previous semester; Gustus hardly ever came up with something new in the board, but when he did the girls had yet to be disappointed by a newest addition.

“So, who is your Zoë Kravitz?” Anya turned to her, eyebrows raised and teasing smirk already on place. Lexa barely tried to contain her eye roll.

“Girl from my Gender Studies.” She shrugged. “And her name is Arabella, not Zoë Kravitz.”

“Arabella.” Anya tested the girl’s name, rolling the l’s in her tongue. “She likes you.” Lexa scoffed and Anya’s smirk grew a couple sizes. “Just saying, she looked smitten on her way out.”

They reached the counter and the girl at the register smiled sweetly at them.

“Hey girls, what are you having today?”

“I’m going cuban today.” Anya answered with a last glance at the menu above the girl’s head.

“What about you, Lexa?” The girl directed her attention at Lexa, smiling wider at her. Lexa wasn’t oblivious at the harmless crush the girl at the counter cultivated towards her, it was endearing and she offered her an honest smile in return.

She was not an open person, in fact, Lexa was quite the opposite, always sporting expressions that would go from indifferent to displeased. It was just easier to keep people at arms length, not having to engage in superfluous interactions just for the sake of appearances. She prided herself in being able to see through people, when their kindness was truly earnest and their gestures not charged with second intentions. She was happy to offer these kind of people a different side of her, a _friendlier_ side. The staff at Gustus’ always treated them as more than just clients, she always felt at home there, which was the main reason for them to keep coming back. That and of course the heavenly sandwiches Gustus prepared.

“Italian for me.” Lexa ordered reaching for her wallet in her back pocket.

“Ice tea for two?”

“You bet.” Anya agreed handing the girl some cash that Lexa completed adding a bill of her own. The girl handed them their change and Lexa took it to dispose at the Tips jar by the register making the girl beam at her.

“It’s great to see you back.” She said shyly.

“You too, Shae.” Lexa replied double checking the girl’s name tag to avoid any mistakes.

“You’re gonna break this girl one of these days.” Anya whispered to Lexa when they reached their favorite table to wait for their order to be called out.

They ate comfortably and with no rush, not having to worry about classes until later on in the afternoon. Lexa practically moaned at her first bite, she really missed this place. Anya had prompted her to disclose her meeting with Indra and sounded genuinely sympathetic at Lexa’s obligation to train a rookie, even though both of them eventually agreed that this could turn out to be a great thing for the team with Niylah getting less and less invested in the game as the seasons went by. They were in need of a better wide receiver and Blake certainly looked like she wanted the chance.

Lexa was lazily scrolling through her Instagram feed, having finished her sandwich and waiting for Anya to pour the rest of the ice tea jar in her glass, when the little new follower bubble popped-up in her screen. She pressed the notifications bar and couldn’t help the smirk from forming behind the rim of her glass.

 **  
Follow Requests  
** Approve or ignore requests  
**@clarkegriffin  
** Clarke Griffin  
 

“What at you’re smirking about?” Anya quickly asked.

Lexa just shook her head not being able to hide her smile as she put her glass down.

“Don’t be a dick.” Anya insisted snatching Lexa’s phone from her hand and inspecting the content on the screen. “Well, look at that, if it ain’t princess freshman.” Anya now sported a smirk of her own. “Are you going to accept it?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Didn’t peg her as your type.”

“First of all, approving someone’s request on Instagram hardly means much.” Lexa retrieved her phone from Anya and made a point to accept the request while turning the screen towards her. “Second of all: since when do you know what my type is?”

“Oh come on.” Anya chuckled. “You like your girls to have a little bit of an _edge_. Princess looks kind of…boring.”

“Anya, that’s mean. Even for you.”

They both laughed and Lexa’s attention quickly went back to her phone as she took a look at the girl’s Instagram profile since it wasn’t a private account as her own. “She’s cute.” She offered Anya, showing a picture of the blonde sitting at a restaurant table.

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, the girl certainly has the looks.” Anya smiled and raised her hands in mock surrender. “It’s just…It looks like she’s missing something. C’mon, you had Zoë Kravitz’s long lost twin sister in your bed this morning. Not to mention Cost-“

“Don’t.” Lexa glared and pointed a finger in her direction. Anya could be so stubborn sometimes.

“All right, all right.” Anya’s hands shot up again in surrender. “You know I ship it, though.”

“Shut up.” Lexa chuckled. “It’s not like I’m gonna marry the girl. It’s just a social media exchange.”

“So you’re following her back?” Anya teased.

“Whatever.” Lexa blushed but didn’t refrain herself from pressing Follow on the top of the girl’s profile.

“Suit yourself.” Anya got up from her chair and picked her bag from the floor prompting Lexa to do the same. “I say _basic_ until proven otherwise.”

 

+++

 

The following days consisted of Lexa’s usual routine: yoga, running, classes, football practice, gym and watching Octavia Blake. Every in between time she could manage she was drafting a training plan to follow with the girl, but she was yet to start any _actual_ training.

Lexa wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Blake started showing up to her workout routine earlier, in hopes to catch Lexa still training in the field. It would’ve bother her to have the rookie occupying the field at the same time, but she let it slide in favor of a better chance to analyze the younger player. However Lexa had yet to approach the other girl, not sure on how to start training her without spilling the real motives behind it. So she watched a lot, studied Blake’s behavior and manners, noticing the girl would start her training hard straight away and wouldn’t stop until her legs couldn’t take it any more.

Lexa would finish her workout half an hour before the other girl would appear in the field, so she’d always sit on the ground to catch her breath and stretch while Blake started running her suicides. She was methodic in her own way, and it was visible how much energy and resistance the wide receiver had. However Lexa worried the girl didn’t really know what she was doing past the point of mere exercising. She had a routine, but it didn’t look like it had any strategy behind it.

It had to be fixed.

It wasn’t until almost a week later after the coach had past her instructions that Lexa manage to engage something with the wide receiver. Blake appeared in the field earlier than she had in the previous days, right after Lexa had finish her yoga routine and was putting her mat in her gym bag to run her laps. Instead of going straight to her suicide runs, Blake strolled to the middle of the field, clearly gathering some confidence before asking Lexa without any preliminaries:

“Wanna bet on a run?”

Lexa blankly stared at her for a couple of seconds.

“What do you wanna bet on?”

“One lap around the field, looser buy beers?”

“Isn’t it a little early for beers?” Lexa arched a brow at the unusual 6:30AM proposition.

“It can be coffee.” The rookie blushed.

The gears in Lexa’s mind started turning, she knew she’d win and this could be the perfect opportunity to allure the wide receiver into a training plan.

“Do you have anywhere to be 7PM today?” Blake looked confused at her question but shook her head anyway. “Okay. _Three_ laps and you’re buying my beer tonight.”

Lexa had already learned how prideful the rookie was, and she had no doubt Blake thought she had an advantage against Lexa. Most people would think a quarterback running against a wide receiver was not a fair match. The latter would always run for their life in the field, while the former would pace around to make their play. It was in the wide receiver’s nature to run with all they’ve got. But Lexa was no ordinary quarterback, and when Blake smugly nodded her agreement to the terms of the challenge, Lexa figure it was about time for other girl to find that out for herself.

“Don’t you need to stretch?” Lexa inquired when Blake started walking towards the side of the field.

“Not really.” The girl shrugged.

 _Wrong again_ , Lexa mentally noted to her list of things to go through in the future with the younger girl, but followed her to the sidelines nonetheless.

As predicted, Lexa won with comfortable margins.

She extended the challenge to three laps on purpose, knowing well that the rookie wouldn’t strategize at all and simply run for her life around the field.

Blake did start ahead, running as fast as her legs would allow her and earning herself a fair distance from Lexa. But Lexa could run too, and she knew Blake would tire herself out before the end of the first lap and start decreasing her performance, so Lexa patiently focused on administering her breathing and efforts until she would eventually reach the other girl.

By the time they were finishing the second lap, Lexa was almost a quarter of the field ahead of the wide receiver, a distance she maintained right until the end of the third and final lap.

Lexa was sitting in the field, taking lazy gulps off of her water bottle while she waited for Blake to reach the end line. She could see the girl still going at it breathless as she poured every little bit of remaining strength into finishing the challenge.

When the wide receiver finally drop herself on the ground, lying sprawled in the field beside a sitting Lexa all she could manage to say was “How?” in a breathless hoarse voice.

 _Where do I start?_ Was all Lexa wanted to say but she chose to chuckle at the rookie’s surprised tone instead before elaborating on the result. She handed her water bottle to Blake who sit up still trying to catch her breath.

“For starters, you don’t know how to breath.” Lexa pointedly informed her raising a finger indicating she was actually going to enumerate the reasons for her winning.

“Pretty sure there’s only one way to do it.” Blake retorted between shallow breaths.

“And, you didn’t think at all about the fact that three laps require you to actually spare your efforts, instead of running like a maniac with all you’ve got in the first lap and then not having an ounce of breath left for the remaining two laps.” Lexa continued ignoring Blake’s cheeky statement. “Plus, didn’t it occur to you that if I raised your challenge to three laps instead of one, that I just _might_ know my way around running laps?”

Blake stared stunned at Lexa’s amused expression, clearly absorbing everything she done wrong and regretting her choices.

“You hadn’t even stretch, kid.” Lexa chuckled at Blake’s stubborn pout. “You never stood a chance.”

“You’re a _quarterback_.” Blake stated the obvious like it meant something more and Lexa merely looked at her, waiting for the younger girl to connect the dots by herself. “ _How?_ ” She repeated knowing well that Lexa understood what she meant.

“I’m a _running_ quarterback.” Lexa corrected her and waited before continuing well aware that that wouldn’t be enough of answer to Blake’s question. “ _And_ I used to play as wide receiver on my freshman year.”

Blake spit her water. “No, you didn’t!” She chocked and Lexa’s eyebrows shot up at the weird accusation. Did she really think she knew Lexa’s background better than Lexa herself? “I mean, you led the team to Nationals on your freshman year. You _were_ the quarterback.” Blake elaborated.

“I didn’t say I was wide receiver for the whole season.” Lexa simply answered and when Blake only stared at her in confusion, she gave in. “Shit, I guess we’re doing this.”

Lexa didn’t share much of her life with people, specially people she barely knew. However she could sense this would be important for Blake to understand why Lexa would later on offer to help her train.

“I was a quarterback on high school as well as part of the tracking team.” Lexa started. “When I came to boot camp here, freshman year, I realized on the first day that I wouldn’t be able to play on the starting team for at least a whole season if I stayed in the position. The team already had a great quarterback.” Lexa allowed a half smile at the memory of Emma, a girl that taught her so much and was responsible for Lexa becoming the player she was praised for today. “They didn’t need me for that, so I quickly changed my boot camp training to wide receiver. I could run and I had a week to adjust myself to the position before try outs.”

Blake listened in silence as if Lexa was telling her the most fascinating tale of a lifetime, she looked so genuinely interested in Lexa’s background story that the quarterback’s reservation on sharing it quickly vanished.

“I got the position and was part of the starting team as wide receiver right from the start of the season. The team was amazing, I didn’t even care that I was playing in a different position, I felt so _lucky_ just to be part of it.” Lexa couldn’t stop the awe in her voice, that was such a turning point in her life that the memory sometimes almost scared her. “We were winning game after game, Emma and I connected right away, our plays were bold and precise and our season was _spotless_. But when came mid-season, uh-“ Lexa took a deep breath. “Emma broke her collarbone in the middle of a game.” She only heard Blake’s surprised gasp by her side, not being able to properly look at the girl while images of Emma’s panicked face and pained screams from three years ago ran through her mind. “Our sub-quarterback sucked.” Lexa let a humorless laugh escape her lips. “And I realized how selfish I had been. I was a better quarterback than Moira when I was in high school, but I wanted to be part of the team right away so bad, that I gave up my usual position as quarterback to train into a completely different part of the team. If I had been training as sub-quarterback with Emma from the start, I might’ve not being able to play at all for an entire season, but I would be a just as good quarterback if the team ever needed me. And when they did,” Lexa sighed heavily. “ _I_ wasn’t.”

“We lost that game and the two following ones too.” She continued in a lighter tone. “And we were going to loose the championship, because Emma was out for the rest of season and Moira was just not good enough. She was trying really hard, but filling Emma’s shoes was a huge responsibility and I believe she was more overwhelmed of having to follow up on Emma than she was an actual lousy quarterback, you know? However we didn’t have much time, we were falling on the championship’s table and Moira wasn’t getting any better. Then it hit me: ‘ _What was the point of me being a great wide receiver if I didn’t have a great quarterback to lead the football to me?_ ’” Blake nodded her understatement encouraging Lexa to continue. “So I started training as quarterback off-schedule with some of the girls, trying to build my game back up before the season was lost for good. Emma found out a couple of weeks in and started coming to the trainings just to watch me and offer pointers for my improvement.” Lexa smiled at the memory. “She was the one to actually talk to coach Indra about making me starting quarterback, I don’t even know if I’d actually follow through with the plan if it weren’t for her.”

“Next thing I knew I was playing it, working my ass off at every training, getting beaten up at every game but also improving and becoming a better player by the weeks, and even if our victories were coming close to draws, we _were_ winning again. The girls trusted me so fast and so easily and I wondered for a while if the whole thing wasn’t completely _insane_ , if we weren't taking too big of a risk, yet Emma was there every time I had doubts and pushed me _and_ pushed me until suddenly we were National champions and I was no longer a wide receiver. We never looked back and it was if I were their quarterback right from the start.”

Silence fell between them, Lexa still lingering on her memories and Blake absorbing every piece of information the quarterback had just shared with her.

Lexa didn’t really know how to go from there, would it be rude to offer Blake to train her? Would she be lessening the girl’s abilities by offering guidance? Was she convinced that Lexa knew what she was talking about? Her internal speculations were cut short by Blake breaking their heavy silence:

“Wow” Lexa glanced at the younger girl’s awed expression. “I had no idea…”

“You should learn your team history, kid.” Lexa interrupted. “There’s more to a story than its headline.”

Lexa shot up to her feet, she still needed to shower before heading to her class and this trip to memory lane took way longer than she anticipated. She could approach the whole training scheme with Blake at tomorrow’s practice.

“Teach me.” Blake shot up to her feet as well and searched for Lexa’s surprised and stunned eyes as she spoke. “Teach me how to be a better player. Show me how to be a better wide receiver. I’m a fast learner, I can do this. I promise, I will not disappoint you. I will do everything you want me to, I will find out how to breath right, I will do anything, _please_ -“

“Slow down, kid.” Lexa shook the girl’s shoulders to stop her rambling.

“ _Please_.” Blake's expression was borderline desperate at this point and Lexa couldn’t have predicted this turn of events, had she known Blake would get this motivated by her story she would’ve sat with the girl a week ago.

“Do you have anywhere to be at 6PM today?”

“I thought you wanted me to buy your beers at 7?” Blake’s resolve softened and she was beaming at Lexa’s blank expression.

“You’re buying my beers at 7.” Lexa answered. “But I’m teaching you how to properly breath at 6.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the lack of Clexa in this one, i promise you, next chapter will not disappoint.  
> let me know what you thought, your feedback has been truly appreciated :3  
> till next time! <3


	6. Running into each other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Clarke needs to pay more attention when walking around and Lexa can't stop enjoying being bumped into by cute blondes at random places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here it is, almost 9k words!  
> i hope this compensates from the lack of clexa in the last chapter.

First week of classes was way more intense than Clarke could’ve predicted.

Partially her fault, she had to admit. The whole getting to know the campus and neighborhood was a poor excuse for partying and Clarke and Raven knew it. Yet both of them neglected their readings and preparations for classes in favor of ‘ _YOLOing_ ’ as Raven put it. How did she manage to transform a whole phrase into a verb, (“I’m life mottoing, Griffin!” “How are you life mottoing something that _already is_ a life motto??”) Clarke chose not to argue — too much — over it.

Therefore, her first week of classes kept her pretty busy. And lost, considering her ‘getting to know the campus’ hadn’t really included getting herself familiar with the buildings of her classes at all. So Clarke was not only already behind on pretty much of all her classes but she also had been _literally_ running in circles around buildings and hallways in desperate search for her classrooms.

And that is precisely how she ran into Lexa on Friday. Not ran into as mere crossed paths, but rather ran into _as in_ collided with her whole face and body into Lexa’s strong walking one.

Clarke had been a little disappointed to not have seen Lexa around campus throughout the week, specially after how they left things at the end of the lake party. “If you don’t stop scratching your freaking cheek I swear you’re gonna leave a permanent mark there.” Raven snapped at her at some point. (It kept tingling, ok? It was practically involuntary.) And Clarke hadn’t even told Raven and Octavia about Lexa’s kiss on her cheek. All their fault, really, considering that after Clarke had been staring at Lexa’s private Instagram account for days, whining under her breath about how unfair it was that now that she knew who hot-stretching-girl actually was her freaking Instagram profile was private, Raven snatched the phone from her hands and pressed Follow against Clarke’s desperate pleas. So yeah, Clarke wasn’t all that eager to share _that_ moment with Lexa with her best friends after that. She almost forgave Raven when Lexa’s follow back came in a matter of seconds. _Almost_ being the key-word. And also, in all fairness, Octavia had nothing to do with the whole Instagram incident, but the girl apparently had started spending a lot of her free time with Lexa in some sort of training plan that she refused to tell them more about, so she figure it was best not to include Octavia on it either.

Anyway, when Clarke’s nose smashed against a hard sternum because she was looking down at her phone and a piece of paper with her classes information trying to figure out the best routes to take for her lunch break, she couldn’t help feeling more gleeful than irritated by the accident when a familiar voice snapped at her:

“ _Jesus_ , watch where you’re— _Oh_. Hey!”

“Hey you!” Clarke’s enthusiasm was slightly out of place given the fact that she was massaging her sore nose while noticing she had accidentally made Lexa drop her cup of coffee on the sidewalk. Still, she was glad to see those big green eyes stare curiously at her after the mess of a week she just had.

Lexa had her hair up in a messy bun, adorable turtle glasses on — that pretty much made Clarke swoon when their eyes met —, black t-shirt and black ripped skinny jeans. The girl had a backpack on her back and was carrying on her left side one of those small plastic skateboards that had a navy board and bright red wheels. She stared at Clarke for a few seconds, amusement clearly visible on her eyes and a small smile.

“I’m starting to be believe you falling on the lake wasn’t entirely Jessica’s fault.” She said breaking their staring contest.

“I’m so sorry about your coffee” Clarke chuckled. “Let me buy you a new one.” She offered looking around to see if there were any coffee shops nearby and frowned when she didn’t spot a single one.

“Don’t sweat it, it was terrible coffee anyway.” Lexa shrugged leading her now free hand to grab her backpack strap. “What are you’re doing on this side of campus?”

“Besides stumbling into people?” Clarke blushed. “I just left a class there and was trying to find the fastest route to the dinning hall before coming back to another class over there.” She answered motioning with her hands towards the direction of all the places she should be getting to yet without finding her will to move.

“Dinning hall is really out of your way then.” Lexa said looking over said buildings.

“I know.” Clarke sighed defeated. “If I had actually bothered to look at my schedule before this morning I could’ve had packed some lunch with me instead of having to run a marathon in order to eat _and_ not be late to Calculus I.” Lexa checked her phone for the time and Clarke sensed the girl would soon follow her way. “I was beginning to wonder when we would m-meet again.” She blurted, trying her best to sound charming and failing miserably, before Lexa had a chance to leave.

When Lexa’s face looked up from her phone, genuinely confused at Clarke’s statement, a rush of cold and _cruel_ realization ran through Clarke’s body.

“Oh my god.” She gasped feeling her cheeks flush. “You don’t remember.”

“I’m sorry?” Lexa looked like she was about to suggest Clarke might’ve been confusing her with someone else.

“The lake party?” Clarke searched Lexa’s eyes for any sign of recognition. “When you came back looking for me?”

“Oh god.” Lexa’s expression went from confused to panicked in barely a second. “What did I do? Please tell me I didn’t do something inappropriate.” Her eyes were wide inside her frames. “I’m so sorry. I do not even remember the last time I drank that much. _God_. Seriously, I’m really sorry.”

“You don’t even know what you did.” Clarke chuckled. “There’s really no reason to—“

“Ugh. What _did_ I do?” Lexa grabbed Clarke’s arm desperately and when Clarke jumped surprised at the unexpected contact she withdrew it fast, embarrassed, choosing to rub her forehead instead. “Oh God. I’m _so_ sorry. Just tell me what I did so I can apologize properly.”

“I don’t want you to regret it.” Clarke was taken aback by her own unfiltered honesty. “I mean, you _really_ don’t need to apologize.” Her phone buzzed on her back pocket and it reminded her of why she was standing where she was. “And as entertaining as this awkward conversation has been, I really need to run to the dinning hall.” She said pointing ahead and trying her best to ignore Lexa’s cute mortified expression. “Anyway, it was nice seeing you again and I’m really sorry for you coffee.”

“Let me buy your lunch.” Lexa blurted apparently surprised at herself for offering. “Dinning hall is _really_ out of your way. Not to mention it’s going to be packed at this hour. I know a good place just down the street.” She pointed at her back. “Let me buy your lunch and apologize for whatever it is that my drunken self did and make sure you’re not late for your next class.”

Would Clarke be a terrible person for making Lexa redeem herself for something she didn’t even remember doing even though said something was in fact the highlight of Clarke’s week? _Maybe_. Well, she didn’t really care.

“Okay.” Clarke smiled at the offer. “But I’m not telling you what you did.” She grinned mischievously.

“We’ll see about that.” Lexa chuckled and turned on her heels to lead Clarke in the opposite direction.

 

+++

 

They entered a small sandwich shop named Gustus’.

The place had an ordering line that seemed to be working quickly and the majority of the customers stood by the counter to wait for their to-go orders to be called out, leaving most of the tables empty. Gustus’ was small and cozy, with its light turquoise walls filled with random decoration. Clarke specially liked the collection of vintage mugs spread on several shelves. The room was well illuminated by the large lateral window shop and she thought this could be a great place for study breaks. Lexa seemed to know the place well, not paying any mind to the environment and going straight to the ordering line whilst checking her phone, patiently waiting for Clarke to absorb the surroundings.

“So” Clarke turned her attention back to Lexa who then retrieved her phone to her back pocket. “Do you make it a habit to act inappropriately when drunk?” She grinned unabashedly.

“So you _do_ confirm it was inappropriate?”

“It really wasn’t.” Clarke chuckled at the girl’s concerned tone. “You just sounded like you wouldn’t be a first offender.” She added cheekily.

“I’m not telling mine if you’re not telling yours.” Lexa said so seriously that Clarke couldn’t help laughing at the bad joke.

Her phone buzzed again and Clarke remembered she hadn’t checked the notification the first time.

 

 _Whatsapp_ **  
****CLARCTAVEN  
** Clarke, Octavia, Raven  
today

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** are you guys already at dinning hall? 12:03

 

 **Octavia Blake  
** I actually had to come home 12:05  
Forgot a book for my afternoon class 12:05  
So I’mma fetch something here 12:05

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** griffin? 12:05

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** clarke? 12:24  
did you get lost on campus again? 12:24

 

Sorry guys, just saw the msgs 12:25  
I’m already having lunch 12:25  
Thx 12:25

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** where r u griffin? 12:25  
cause i’m still at the dinning hall 12:26  
and i know youre not home w/ O 12:26

 

 **Octavia Blake  
** She really isn’t 12:26

 

“Hey Lexa!” Clarke’s head shot up noticing they had reached the counter and the cashier girl was already answering them. “Same as Wednesday?” She offered Lexa with a big smile. Clarke eyed them both, from Lexa’s polite demeanor to the girl’s — Shae, her name tag read — beaming face.

“Hm. Actually, yeah. The parma ham was amazing.” Lexa replied taking a furtive glance at a chalk board menu that Clarke only now noticed existed and reaching for her wallet in her backpack, her small skateboard leaning on the counter.

“What can I get you?” The cashier girl asked Clarke; and it was not lost on Clarke how her previous beaming face turned into a glare when she turned her attention to her. Clarke looked at Lexa with confusion in her eyes only to catch the quarterback trying to hold back a guilty smile. The cashier girl cleared her throat and Clarke’s attention went back to the menu.

“Oh god. I have no idea.” She replied sincerely, eyes roaming wildly at the options on the large chalk board menu. Everything looked amazing, the sandwiches were mostly named geographically, like Hawaiian or French and each one looked better than the previous; honestly Clarke pretty much wanted try them all.

“Clarke” Suddenly the blonde realized this was the very first time Lexa called her by her first name and — _damn_ — the way she rolled the L and clicked the K scored a solid #1 position on Clarke's list of favorite things. “There’s a line…” Lexa pointed her thumb behind them.

“ _Help me._ ” Clarke whispered at her adding a hint of mock desperation on her voice that earned a chuckle from the brunette.

“All right.” Lexa conceded. “Answer fast: Meat or veggie?”

“Meat.”

“Bittersweet or spicy?”

“Spicy.”

“Cheese or dressing?”

“Both.”

“Are you a messy eater?”

“Yes, I am and I will not apologize for it.”

Lexa laughed that _great_ raspy laughter of hers and turned forward to address the cashier girl.

“Italian for me and Meatball sub for Clarke.”

“Ice tea?”

“For two, yeah.” She answered for both of them and fished inside her wallet for cash.

“Lexa, no.” Clarke reached for the brunette’s tattooed forearm and confused green eyes looked at her waiting. “You don’t have to pay for me.” Clarke clarified reaching for her own wallet in her back pocket with her free hand.

“Clarke” There it was again, solid #1 position. “I specifically said I’d pay for your lunch just a moment ago, so yes, I _am_ paying.” She gracefully detangled Clarke’s right hand from her forearm and offered the cashier girl two folded bills. After quickly typing the order in the computer and unlocking the register drawer, the girl handed Lexa a few coins that the quarterback promptly dropped inside a Tips jar, pulling out another beaming smile from Shae.

“Have a good day, Lexa.” She said softly at the brunette who returned the farewell, and then Shae turned to Clarke, offering her only a forced smile that looked more like a grimace. Clarke furrowed her brows and Lexa chuckled while she collected her skateboard from the wall and gestured for Clarke to find a seat at a small table by the large window.

They sat across each other and Clarke’s phone buzzed yet again, making a loud noise against the wooden table. She rolled her eyes while retrieving the object and muttering ‘sorry’ at Lexa who nod her understanding.

 

 _Whatsapp_ **  
****CLARCTAVEN  
** Clarke, Octavia, Raven  
today

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** why do you have to be like this, griffin? 12:36  
you know youre gonna tell us later 12:36  
quit playing hard to get 12:37

 

Oh my god Raven 12:37  
Why are you so interested  
on my lunch break? 12:38

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** cause youre refusing to  
share with us 12:38  
which only means there’s some  
juice to spill 12:38  
so spill it already 12:38

Ugh you’re insufferable 12:38  
I ran into Lexa, ok? 12:38  
We’re having lunch at a  
sandwich place 12:38

 **Octavia Blake  
** omg! Tell her I said hi :) 12:39

 

 **Raven Reyes  
** WAT 12:39  
are u seriously downplaying  
telling us youre on a lunch date  
with lexa fcking woods? 12:39

That’s it. 12:39  
I’m turning off my phone. 12:39

 

Clarke indeed turned off her phone and shoved it inside her bag to give Lexa her full attention.

“Octavia says hi.”

“Tell her I told her to quit texting and practice what I passed on to her.” Lexa answered in a serious voice.

“What have you been ‘passing’ on to her?” Clarke couldn’t hold back on her curiosity.

“She hasn't told you?” Lexa asked surprised. Clarke only bit her bottom lip and shook her head in response. “Then I’m afraid it’s not my place to share.” Lexa offered with a sympathetic smile.

“You take this stuff very seriously.”

“Of course.” Lexa answered in a heartbeat.

Clarke tried to gather more meaning inside her serious green eyes, but she really didn’t know Lexa well enough to translate what her eyes wouldn’t let her lips say. Quite the pair of lips they were, plump and full. And honestly? It just shouldn’t be allowed.

“27!” The girl behind the counter called out looking at their table prompting Lexa to get on her feet. “That’s us, I’ll get it.”

Lexa came back carefully placing on the table a small plastic tray with their wrapped sandwiches and a jar full of dark ice tea. She was again trying and failing to hold back a guilty smile and Clarke furrowed her brows.

She motioned to grab her own sandwich noticing now what was so funny: _CLAIRE_ was the name that read across her meatball sub while the other one read _Lexa :)_ in a pretty cursive handwriting.

“Ok. Didn’t realize having lunch with Lexa Woods was a first degree offense in this place.” Clarke deadpanned holding her sandwich up for Lexa to read the name on the wrapping paper. Lexa couldn’t hold her laughter any longer and Clarke was actually amused at the whole situation, so she joined her without reservations.

“Shae is actually a really nice girl, I really don’t know what’s gotten into her today.” Lexa wiped the laughing tears from the corner of her eyes behind her glasses. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Stop apologizing.” Clarke smiled sweetly at her “You’re too polite for your own good.”

“My grandmother raised me well.” And as soon as the words left her mouth, Clarke noticed Lexa’s shoulders tense up at her own remark. “Uh. What time did you say your next class was?” Lexa tried to quickly change the subject.

“1:30, there’s enough time.” Clarke offered without acknowledging Lexa’s previous comment, which the quarterback was clearly grateful by the way her shoulders relaxed again.

Clarke then ventured to take a first bite at her meatball sub. It smelled amazing and the bread was soft and warm. She legitimately moaned at the taste. The sauce was spicy but the melted cheese soothed the pleasant burn, the meatballs were crunchy on the outside and heavenly juicy on the inside.

“Oh my god.” Clarke moaned again chewing on the first bite. “You know that episode of Friends, where Ross thinks Joey jumped to save his life when they’re inside the Police car, but Joey was actually trying to save his sandwich?” Clarke rambled around a mouthful. “This is _precisely_ how I’ve always pictured that sandwich.” Another bite, another moan. “You just fulfilled one of my childhood fantasies.”

“Well, _Gustus_ did.” Lexa smiled back at her.

They ate in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Clarke was dying to get to know the other girl, but was afraid Lexa wouldn’t be too keen on answering personal questions. So Clarke waited, savoring the amazing sandwich on her hands whilst trying her hardest not to make a mess with the marinara sauce and melted cheese that seem to multiple with each bite.

“So, Calculus I?” Lexa finally broke their silence.

“Biology major.” Clarke answered the implied question after a sip of the equally amazing homemade ice tea. “Pre med, you know.” She completed with a smile. “What about you?”

“I’m on a Social Studies degree.” Lexa replied taking a sip of her ice tea as well. “Specializing in a  Sociology major.”

“Oh.” Clarke couldn’t contain her surprise which raised Lexa’s eyebrows in a silent question. “I guess I just pictured you in a more… _physical_ field of study.”

“Because of football?”

“Well, yeah.” Clarke chuckled.

“Football is just a hobby. Well, it’s certainly more than a hobby, but I don’t intend to make a career out of it.” Lexa clarified swallowing a bite of her sandwich. “I’m going to Law school after this.”

“Fancy.”

“Said the future Doctor.” Lexa eye rolled.

“There’s still a long road ahead.” The blonde sighed. “Do you already know where you’re going to Law school?”

“Mhm.” Lexa nodded and seemed to consider for a second if she should extend her answer. “I’m going back to New York, Columbia.”

“ _Oh._ ” Clarke should really stop this straightforward reactions. “So you’re from New York?”

“Born and raised in Brooklyn.” Lexa nodded with a small prideful smile. “Blake mentioned you guys are from upstate, right?”

“Yeah, not as exciting.” Clarke chuckled. “We’ve been friends since kindergarten, and came here together, even though each of us is doing their own thing. I’m following my mother’s steps into med school, Raven is on some complicated engineering thing… actually I’m not surprised if she pulls a double major at some point. And Octavia is too in love with football to choose a major yet, so she’s still trying to figure that out.” Clarke comments.

“Is med school just a family affair or is it something you really want to do?” Lexa inquired with interest only to widen her own eyes a second later at what she had just said. “I’m sorry, that is fairly too personal for me to be asking.” She blushed.

“No, that’s ok.” Clarke smiled. “Of course my mother being a doctor influenced me somehow, but I honestly decided on this myself. I just really want to be able to help people, you know? In a hands-on kind of way. As cheesy as this may sound.” She rolled her eyes at herself.

“I understand.” Lexa smiled back. “I feel the same way.”

“Tell me more about your degree.” Clarke ventured around another bite of her sandwich “I take it has a very open curriculum, what kind of things did you choose to study?”

Lexa seemed surprised by Clarke’s sincere interest, but didn’t refrain from explaining her subject choices. She told Clarke about the health classes she took in the same buildings Clarke had been wandering around helplessly in the past week, and how Psychology was one of her favorite subjects on her freshmen year. How business studies and political science turned out to be quite annoying, but mainly because of stuck up people from foppish majors. Clarke particularly liked to discover how gender, race and sexuality studies were Lexa’s main drive. They engaged in a heated conversation about the lack of proper LGBT representation on the media, the gay tropes and how the lesbian storylines were always dark, sad and full of dead people. Clarke even managed to get Lexa to confess on hate-watching Glee until the last episode only to show support for the representation. “I didn’t watch Pretty Little Liars though! Just turned the TV on mute and let the thing roll, you know, to help the ratings.”

Clarke shared how frustrating her first week had been, with being lost on campus all of the time and feeling like she was behind in all of her classes. Lexa tried to assure her that everybody felt the same way when they’re freshmen, however Clarke had trouble picturing Lexa wandering around completely lost. She just seemed so sure of herself, her confidence was almost palpable, and Clarke found herself drawn to it. She stared at the way Lexa would fix her glasses on her face whenever she was making a point, even though there was no reason for it. How her smiles, despite being a sparse occasion, were always sincere and warm. Her eyes seemed to speak a language of their own, and Clarke ached to understand what their nuances meant. Their conversation floated easily around small topics, Clarke found out that despite Lexa being a very reserved person, it was easy to engage in a light conversation with her.

She was in the middle of telling her how they rented a house instead of living in the dorm as most freshmen do, when Lexa’s phone started ringing. The girl apologized for cutting Clarke off before answering the call.

“Hey Cos.” She greeted. “Yeah, I actually texted you earlier, I’m guessing you didn’t check before calling.” A pause, then Lexa chuckled. “I’m kind of in the middle of something, is it ok if we talk later?” Another pause. “I don’t know, I’m training with a friend at 6, we can talk when I get home? Are you going to be free?” Lexa laughed at something the other person had said and Clarke found herself a little bit jealous for not being the one to earn it. “All right, I’ll text you when I get home. You too, bye.” She looked at the time in her phone and directed her attention back to Clarke. “Sorry about that. We should get going if you’re still planning on getting on time for Calculus I.”

“Oh god, yes.” Clarke got to her feet gathering her bag in the process.

Lexa insisted on dropping Clarke off at her classroom, stating she had a class there on a previous year. They walked the short distance with Clarke resuming her story about the house she currently lived in with her friends. Other than that, they searched for the classroom in a pleasant silence, Lexa leading the way and Clarke mindlessly following her. 

“You know,” Clarke started when they reached the classroom floor. “I’m a little surprised that you didn’t put up a fight on getting me to disclose what your ‘drunken self’ did at the lake party.”

“Is that so?” Lexa smirked and when Clarke rolled her eyes she continued. “I just figured I’m gonna remember it eventually.”

“Will you now?” Clarke teased.

“Absolutely.” Lexa nodded seriously. “You’re gonna find that I’m a very persistent person, Clarke.”

“Hm.” Clarke bit her bottom lip and stopped a few feet away from the door they’ve been searching for. Lexa stared at her, big eyes clearly amused with Clarke’s demeanor. “We’ll see about that.” She mimicked Lexa’s earlier statement.

They stayed like that for a moment, Lexa’s green eyes holding Clarke’s blue ones with interest. Clarke dreaded to part ways with the girl, but her classroom was starting to fill with other students and Lexa probably had other places to be as well.

“This was fun.” Lexa offered with a half smile. “Thank you for letting me buy your lunch.”

“I think _I_ should be one thanking you.” Clarke replied earnestly. “It was probably the best sandwich of my life. I’m definitely coming back there.”

“Then we might meet again.” Lexa stated and Clarke was taken aback by her words. Did she remember? Or was she quoting Clarke from when they ran into each other in the sidewalk? “Have a good class. Goodbye, Clarke.” She smiled.

“You t-too. I m-mean, if you have any classes now that is.” Clarke stammered still trying to recover from Lexa’s words. The girl chuckled at her, then offered a small wave and turned to go back to the stairs they had just climbed.

If Clarke spends her whole class doodling big green eyes behind turtle glasses in her Calculus book it is completely _not_ her fault.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Lexa reached the football field at 6PM to meet Blake for their training plan, she was pleased to find the girl already situated in the middle of the field stretching her legs the way the quarterback had shown her two days ago. The rookie was definitely driven.

They had only met once so far for training, later on the same day of their ‘running challenge’. Blake had obediently met Lexa back at the field at 6, where the quarterback showed her how to properly stretch her muscles and a few breathing exercises so Blake could do it on her own. They also ran a few laps in a slower pace than the rookie was clearly used to. Lexa could see that the girl would sometimes get impatient with their rhythm and try to speed their pace up, but Lexa wouldn’t let her. Blake’s _eagerness_ was definitely something they would be working on the future as well.

“Lift your butt. The tension on your thigh is supposed to be coming from you right calf, not your upper body.” Lexa corrected her while dropping her bag in the field and getting in the same stretching position beside Blake.

“Hi!” The girl shot her gaze up with a smile and lifted her butt as instructed, mirroring Lexa’s position. “What are we going to do today?”

“Did you practice the breathing exercises I passed you?” Lexa inquired switching legs with Blake following suit.

“I did. It was tricky, not gonna lie, to jog and breath the way you told me to.” Blake chuckled. “I mean, I felt like I was doing math in my head while jogging. Didn’t realize it would require that much concentration to get it right.”

“That’s right.” Lexa looked at her seriously. “Running requires a lot of concentration. Which is also why I told you to stop going so fast, if you keep only running suicides you’re not gonna be able to focus on your breathing and you’re never gonna get it right.”

“I know! I stopped with the suicides, I swear! I only jogged before class this morning.” The rookie defended herself. “And it was a very light jog, I swear.”

“Relax, kid.” Lexa chuckled. “I just want you to understand what we’re doing here and what we’re trying to achieve. We already know you can go fast, but we’re trying to build your stability and endorse your resistance. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

“Good.”

They kept stretching in silence for a few more minutes, with Blake seeking to mirror Lexa’s position with precision. The quarterback was deep in thought with her strategy on Blake’s training plan, trying to measure where they should follow next when the younger girl broke their silence.

“So you had lunch with Clarke today.”

“I did.” Lexa replied shortly. She wasn’t particularly inclined to discuss the event with the girl. She and Blake had just started to spend more time together, something that would only increase with the starting of the season, and gossiping about the wider receiver’s best friend was not in Lexa’s list of priorities. So she chose to go into an unexpected direction. “She mentioned that you haven’t told them what you’ve been training with me.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t mean to pry, but is there a particular reason for it?”

“I don’t know.” Blake sighed. “It’s not like I’m _hiding_ it from them, I just haven’t gotten into any specifics.” Lexa waited patiently while the younger girl chewed on her bottom lip. “They’re like my biggest fans.” She chuckled at herself. “They’re so proud of me for being here, you know? I just… I don’t want them to think I’m less than what they think of me.”

“You’re a great player, Blake.” Lexa stared at her seriously. “Us training together doesn’t undermine that. We’re trying to make you a _one of a kind_ player.” She could see Blake getting flustered at her words, and even if Lexa wasn’t one to gratuitously boost someone’s ego, it was important that the girl understood this. “I’m not one to waste my time with someone not worthy of it. I see potential in you. You shouldn’t be ashamed for trying to improve as a player.”

“I’m not ashamed.” Blake’s eyes shot up to meet Lexa’s serious ones. “I’m happy beyond myself that you’re taking the time to teach me. I really appreciate it. I’m not going to waste your time.”

“Glad to hear.” Lexa chuckled easing Blake’s apprehension. “Listen, you know best your relationship with your friends and I’m in no way trying to tell you what to do” They finished their stretches and Lexa went to her gym bag, tossing Blake a water bottle. “What I’m trying to say is just that the three of you seem very close and I’m sure your friends would be happy to know what you’re up to.”

“You’re right.” Blake smiled sheepishly. “Damn, Woods, who knew you are so wise?”

“Shut up.” Lexa laughed while rummaging her gym bag. “Here, I got you a present.”

“Thanks?” Blake muttered receiving a rolled up yoga mat with a confused expression.

“Now let’s put those stretching and breathing exercises to good use.”

 

+++

 

Lexa was no yoga instructor, but _dammit_ if Blake was not a difficult student.

She wouldn’t stay still for more than a couple of seconds, always fidgeting and trying to engage a conversation only to be shut down by Lexa’s side eyed glares. Blake probably had a serious case of hyperactivity, which explained a lot of her behavior regarding the football training Lexa had seen the girl taking part on so far. Which, again, only prove that even though yoga would a big challenge for her, it would eventually turn out to be a great asset for the rookie.

After the disastrous first session, Lexa finally gave up and ran a couple of laps with her before ending their training for the day. She could already see some improvement in Blake’s movements, how her breathing seemed to be a little more in synch with her limbs and her breath management seemed more well trained. 

“I know yoga seems really hard right now, but I’m gonna need you to keep trying this at home.” Lexa said to her when they resumed their laps and sat on the ground again drinking from their water bottles.

“Are you giving me homework?” Blake teased.

“As a matter of fact, I am.” She retorted with an arched brow. “Yoga will make your breathing exercises come more naturally to you when you’re playing. It’s hard to focus on your breathing when you’re in the middle of a game. This needs to become a second nature to you. Understand?”

“Yeah.” Blake sighed.

“I’m serious.” Lexa insisted. “You’ll get the hang of it. Watch some Youtube classes, I don’t know. We’ll start our trainings with this from now on. It’ll increase your stretching potential as well. And your focus, eventually.”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” She assured her. “Hey, listen, do you have plans tomorrow?”

“Not really, no. Why?”

“Uh. My brother, he’s a senior here as well, uh. Our friends are throwing a party at his place.” Blake said blushing, adverting her gaze from Lexa’s curious eyes. “It’s going to be fun, I guess, hm, do you want to go?”

Lexa didn’t intentionally wonder about the possibility of Clarke attending the party as well, given the fact that she was one of Blake’s best friends, yet beaming blue eyes and shining blonde hair were the first things to pop into her mind. To be honest, she was surprised at herself for thinking of the girl so fast at the mention of Blake’s friends.

“Oh. I guess so.” She answered as coolly as she managed. “I gave you my number, right? Text me the details later.” She smiled at Blake’s radiant expression.

“Cool! Invite the girls from the lake house for me?”

“I will.” She laughed amused at the way Blake sounded like a high schooler inviting the popular girls to her low-profile birthday party.

They called an end to their training and started walking their way out of the field in silence.

Lexa had a long day and adding Blake into her weekly schedule turned out to be quite as overwhelming as she tried to warn Indra in the beginning of the week. She had her own workout routine in the mornings, trained with the team twice a week, tried to hit the gym at least three times a week — she fucking hated the gym, but coach would kill her if she didn’t do it — and now she had to meet Blake for extra trainings as well. They haven’t specified how many times a week they would meet, Lexa was still trying to assess how fast the rookie would show improvements, but she was sensing they would train at least twice a week. That’s a lot of working out, even for a senior athlete like Lexa. She would definitely have to balance a few things out, maybe only train three times a week in the mornings, leaving the other two to meet Blake by the end of the day. It wasn’t ideal, Lexa loved starting her days running, but she’ll succumb sooner rather than later if she keeps this training schedule for long.

Anyway, it was Friday and Lexa was dying to get home to a long shower, a home cooked dinner by Kate if she was lucky and that new Netflix series before going to bed, if her plans with her roommates follow through. Damn, she was old.

“Ok, so you’re going to give yoga another try at home and I’ll see you again Monday for the team practice. Well, actually, I guess your Saturday party comes first, but you know what I mean.” Lexa said when they reached the street.

“Yes.” Blake smiled at her. “When will we meet for uh- _this_?”

“I’ll text you.” Lexa replied mulling over her week plans. “But is Tuesday, same time, ok for you?”

“Yeah, totally.”

“Ok then. I’ll text you anyway.” Lexa patted the girl’s shoulder while she dropped her penny board on the ground. “See ya.”

“See you tomorrow!” Blake threw after Lexa’s figure skating fast on the street.

“You still owe me those beers!” Lexa shouted back at her hiding a half smile. Blake’s laugh came only a second later.

 

+++

 

Lexa got home to an empty house. Her roommates were probably still at the gym, something they gladly did everyday and she dreaded doing only a few times a week.

She took a long hot shower washing away the exhaustion accumulated through the week. The amount of credits and exercising she pulled through this week was not healthy and she knew it. It took longer than usual for her sore muscles to detangle under the hot pressure of her shower.

Today was a good day though, and a certain unexpected lunch date was definitely the reason for it. Did it really count as a date? It certainly _felt_ like one. God, Lexa doesn’t even remember the last time she was in a proper date.

Clarke was so easy to talk to, Lexa still couldn’t believe the girl managed to get her speaking the entire time they were together. If she’s being honest, Lexa’s still trying to understand how she ended up proposing to pay for the girl’s lunch in the first place. There was just something so _open_ about Clarke that Lexa felt giving in to impulses she didn’t know she had. The way Clarke seemed legitimately interested in Lexa’s life outside of football was incredibly refreshing, it felt good to talk about things that matter to her way more than football ever did.

Lexa could only hope that whatever she did at the lake party was indeed _appropriate_. The last thing she wanted was to offend Clarke, but the girl seemed at peace with whatever happened, so Lexa’s worries were diminished. She wished she remembered any of it, yet the last vague memories she has from the party were of beer pong splashes and loud cheering.

 

She changed into her Arkadia comfy hoodie and an old Adidas black shorts and was toweling her hair dry when she remembered her plans to call Costia. They haven’t spoke more than a few text exchanges ever since Lexa returned from New York last Sunday, both of them fairly busy with their back to college routines. Her best friend was a student at Juilliard and, as Lexa herself, an overachiever as extracurriculars go; always searching for new classes and projects to take part on. They have been this way since high school, Lexa with sports and debate teams and Costia with art classes and drama club. It was a wonder how they ever manage to find the time to squeeze their relationship inside those four eventful years. Yet Costia turned out to be one of the most important people in Lexa’s life, and they always made sure to find the time to participate in whatever was happening with each other.

She grabbed her phone, ignoring a few social media notifications, and quickly typed a text to her friend.

 

 **Costia  
** **today, 7:32PM**

I’m home!  
Can I call you?

Hey there, peanut :)  
Getting off the subway  
Almost home  
I’ll call you then

Okay.

 

Lexa went downstairs to wait for her roommates. She made a quick stop at the kitchen to grab a gatorade and was met with a note stuck on the fridge door.

 

 _lex, we’re gonna hit the grocery’s after gym_  
_dinner + stranger things tonight, don’t forget_  
_chop the stuff in the drawer for me, please?_  
_you’re the best! ♡  
_ _xx kate_

 

God was real after all, a home cooked meal was everything she needed tonight. Her phone started buzzing on her hand, Costia’s name and face popping up on her screen. She answered the call and opened the fridge to look for the stuff Kate needed chopping.

“Hey Cos!” Lexa greeted warmly.

“ _Hi babe! How’s the first week?_ ” Costia greeted back and Lexa could her key sounds as the girl was certainly entering her apartment.

“Exhausting.” Lexa huffed while searching for the vegetables Kate separated. “Coach got me training a rookie this season, I think I’m gonna have to change my whole workout schedule because of this.”

“ _Damn, your coach is a bold lady for having you changing your routine._ ”

“Shut up.” She chuckled retrieving a bowl from the fridge drawer to put it on the kitchen counter.

 _“You shut up, you know it’s true.”_ Costia laughed and Lexa could hear her friend dropping her bag on the ground and throwing herself on her large couch that served as Lexa’s bed whenever she was visiting. _“So this rookie, she cute?_ ”

“Costia.” Lexa tried to admonish her best friend and failed by receiving only a guilty giggle in response. “She’s like a puppy, I don’t think I have ever seen anybody with that much energy. It tires me just to look at her restlessness sometimes.”

“ _Sounds fun._ ” Costia sighed and Lexa knew the girl was done talking about football. “ _What about your classes? Anything interesting so far?_ ”

“Too early to tell.” Lexa shrugged placing the bowl full of vegetables inside the sink and turning the faucet on to rinse them. “You?”

“ _I don’t know, too much drama._ ”

“You _are_ in drama school.” Lexa rolled her eyes knowing Costia could hear it in her tone.

“ _My point exactly_.” Costia deadpanned. “ _Anyway, there was this cute girl in one of my workshops this week, I think I’m gonna ask her out._ ”

“I’m amazed you haven’t already.” She chuckled. “You’re not one to wait around.”

“ _Damn right, I’m not. Learned my lesson with your sorry ass._ ” Costia snickered playfully.

“Hey, it didn’t take me _that_ long, all right?” Lexa defended herself. Costia definitely would never let her live that down, Jesus Christ. “I asked you out on what, the third month of freshmen year?”

“ _The_ end _of the third month, yes._ ” She corrected her, stressing the word. “ _You could’ve done it in the first week and you know it, babe._ ”

“Whatever.” Lexa muttered under her breath turning off the faucet while searching the counter drawers for the cutting board and knife.

“ _What about you, got lucky with any ladies so far?_ ” She could just hear the wiggle of eyebrows on Costia’s voice.

“Had a thing with that girl from my Gender Studies class, remember the one I told you about?” Lexa said nonchalantly and wondered if she should mention Clarke to her best friend. Was there anything to even talk about? She hadn’t decided yet what their lunch actually was or what the warm feeling in her stomach meant whenever she thought about it. “Anyway, it was just a one time kind of thing.” She offered deciding against discussing the blonde all together.

“ _Did you want it to be more?_ ” Costia’s voice carried a _certain_ note that Lexa was well familiar with.

“Costia—”

“ _Don’t start with the_ ‘I don’t have time for a girlfriend’ _bullshit._ ” Her friend snapped at her almost aggressively. Leave it to Costia to dramatize Lexa’s simple reality. “ _It’s your senior year, make some goddam time for a hot girlfriend_.”

“I just told you coach raised my responsibilities this year. I _don’t_ have time, Cos.” Lexa insisted trying to soothe her friend’s never ending failed attempts to make her life more normal. She tried to not let her mind wonder too far around blue shining eyes and sweet smiles with the tip of a tongue trapped between flashing teeth.

“ _Ugh, your life sucks._ ” Costia backed down with a heavy sigh. “ _I guess_ I’ll _have to actually marry your sorry ass after all._ ” She teased.

“Aren’t you a delight?” Lexa deadpanned electing a chuckle out of her friend. “I’m gonna put you on speaker, k?”

“ _Sure, the girls not home?_ ” Costia asked probably assuming by Lexa’s movements and background noises that the girl wasn’t speaking from her bedroom.

“They went to the grocery store, Kate asked me to chop some vegetables for her in the mean time.”

“ _I_   _saw Grandma Woods yesterday._ ”

“How was she?” Lexa asked stopping for a second her knife ministrations.

“ _We miss you._ ” Costia admitted in a heavy sigh. “ _Did you know your grandma shamelessly cheats on poker?_ ”

“You played poker with the girls from the retirement home?” Lexa laughed and she was glad that Costia changed the tone of the conversation. Lexa not staying in New York for college would probably always be a sensitive topic for the two of them.

“ _Yeah, and I mean, I know peanuts are important for her,_ ” It wasn’t lost on Lexa how Costia’s phrasing carried a double meaning, considering her grandmother always called her peanut. “ _but damn, always thought Grandma Woods was a high moral kinda gal, you know?_ ”

“You’re gonna tell me you weren’t in it with her?” Lexa teased.

“ _Well, duh, you know_ I _don’t have any morals._ ” Costia had plenty, but Lexa wasn’t one to argue over her lighthearted joke. “ _We wiped the girls’s whole week supply of peanuts. Grandma Woods is all set tonight for movie night._ ”

“Did she seem all right to you? Is she taking her blood pressure meds?” She inquired concerned.

“ _You worry too much, Lex. You were here just last week, she’s doing great._ ” Costia assured her in a heartbeat. “ _Sometimes I think your grandmother will out live us both. No joke._ ”

“I just worry about her alone there.” She admitted in a small voice, Costia was one of the few people Lexa felt comfortable enough to talk openly about her grandmother.

“ _She’s_ not _alone. You know it._ ” Costia assured her for the hundredth time ever since Lexa’s grandmother decided to move into the retirement home with Lexa leaving for college.

“Thanks for visiting her.” Lexa knew how much her grandmother loved Costia and having the girl visit her was the next best thing from having Lexa there herself. “You’re the best.”

“ _I know._ ” Costia answered playfully. “ _What’re you gonna do tonight?_ ”

“The girls wanna marathon that new Netflix series, you know which one?” She replied. “Stranger Things, I think?”

“ _You’re definitely older than your grandmother._ ”

“Fuck you.” Lexa laughed even though she probably agreed with her best friend.

“ _You wish._ ” Fair enough, she walked right into that one. “ _Let me know if the series lives up to the hype._ ”

“Will do. What about you, any plans?”

“ _Linc, wants to go to that karaoke bar, you know?_ ”

 

“Harper, you need to accept the fact that Rihanna is just out of your league.” Anya’s voice entered the house as the front door swung open. “You could _never_ tap that.”

 

Lexa’s eyes snap up to see her four roommates entering their large living room with groceries bags on their hands.

“ _Is that Anya? Bitch, get over here._ ” Costia spoke louder also noticing the entrance of the other girls.

“Costia? I miss you, asshole!” Anya ran over the direction of the phone, resting her bags on the kitchen counter. “When will you grace us with your presence?”

“Hey Cos!” The other girls greeted as their made their way around the kitchen.

“ _Hey girls! Ah, you know, have to check with my agent and stuff…_ ” They all laughed at Costia’s faux pretentious tone. “ _Have Lexa text me your first home game date and I’ll see if I can come watch._ ”

“You just wanna come for the victory party.” Anya smirked now holding the phone closer to her mouth so Costia could hear her amidst the kitchen noise.

“ _What makes you so sure you’re gonna win, hot shot?_ ” She teased back, knowing well how to push Anya’s buttons.

“Have you met us?”

“All right, all right, enough with this.” Lexa grabbed her phone from Anya’s hand ignoring her friend’s offended expression. “Cos, I’m gonna help the girls with dinner. Text you later, ok?”

“ _Yeah! If I don’t respond it’s cause I’m drunk enjoying my youth like a regular 21 year old. Have fun with your nerd series, grandmas! Byeee!_ ”

“Bye!” They all sing songed before Lexa ended the call.

“Oh man, if you don’t marry that girl, I will.” Anya sighed.

 

+++

 

Of course Anya would forget to grab the tomato sauce for Kate’s lasagna and Lexa would be the designated person to bike back to the grocery’s store to get it.

She grabs the specific tomato sauce she knows Kate prefers in the shelves filled with all kinds of brands and absently turns on the corner of the aisle to make her way to the cashier. Lexa runs into somebody out of nowhere, dropping the two cans on the ground with a soft thud.

“I’m sor— _Oh_! Hey!” A cheerful familiar voice greets her.

Lexa fixes her glasses on her face and smiles at Clarke’s joyful expression.

“Are you following me?” Lexa chuckles, crouching down on the ground to grab the cans and gladly noticing they haven’t imploded.

“I could ask you the same thing!” Clarke teases back as she crouches down in front of her to help. “Last minute shopping?” She asks handing Lexa one of the cans.

“Yeah, Kate’s gonna make a lasagna and Anya forgot to grab the tomato sauce, so I was unfairly appointed to come and get it.” Lexa says while making her way back to the tomato sauce cans shelves to exchange the now smashed ones for others. When she turns back to Clarke, she finds the girl intensely staring at her bare legs. “You?” She smirks.

“Oh. Uh— I, yeah, me too.” The blonde blushes quickly directing her gaze back to Lexa’s face.

“You’re also buying tomato sauce because your roommate forgot to buy it for your other roommate’s lasagna?” Lexa jokes. _Seriously what is it about this girl that gets her acting like a complete dork?_

“No.” Clarke laughs and Lexa decides that her lame jokes are totally worth it. “I’m also last minute shopping for a Friday night home cooked dinner.”

“What are you going to cook?” Lexa asks before she can contain herself. “That is if you’re the one doing the cooking.”

“Nothing fancy, just some pasta for me and the girls.” Clarke offers her sheepishly tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

They simply stare at each other for a second. Lexa particularly likes that Clarke usually sports an expectant expression, as if she’s always feeling that something exciting is about to happen. It stirs something inside Lexa to be the one indulging the girl of that pleasure. Clarke has her hair in a messy bun with several locks of blonde hair out of its grasp and she’s still wearing the same clothes from when they had lunch, which Lexa guesses means Clarke had a just as long day and hadn’t had the pleasure of getting home yet.

“How was Calculus I?” _Really, Lexa? That’s what you chose to go with?_

“Oh, it was all right.” Clarke blushes slightly and Lexa can’t help to look at her curiously. “Can’t say I paid that much attention to the lecture.” She chuckles.

“Boring teacher?” Lexa offers with a sympathetic smile. Clarke nods with a similar smile. “Well, I should go, Kate’s probably needing this.” She holds the cans up.

“Yeah, okay.” Clarke nods again. “See you around.”

Lexa smiles and walks past the blonde in the direction of the registers aisles.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow night?” Lexa turns back on her heels to find Clarke chewing on her bottom lip with pink cheeks.

“Oh. I’m going to that—“

“Oh. Okay. That’s all right.” Clarke’s face is as red as Lexa’s tomato sauce cans and she can’t help herself from enjoying the girl’s flustered rambling. “I was just asking, cause uh, Octavia’s brother is having a party tomorrow. But that’s all right, you know? No worries—”

“Clarke” Lexa chuckles and takes a step back into the blonde’s direction. Clarke goes back to anxiously chew on her bottom lip and Lexa can’t contain the smile on her own face. “I was going to say that I am going to Octavia’s party. She invited me this afternoon.”

“OH.” Clarke exhales with slightly wide eyes. “She did. Of course. That makes sense.”

“It does.” Lexa says amused. Clarke this disconcerted is probably the cutest thing ever. “So I guess that means I’ll be seeing you tomorrow?”

“Mhm.” Clarke nods going for nonchalant and failing miserably.

“All right then.” Lexa half smiles. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“Me too.” The blonde offers maybe _a little_ too eagerly.

Lexa waves one of the tomato sauce cans as a goodbye gesture, gladly earning a pleased chuckle out of Clarke, and resumes her way to the registers.

Maybe being friends with Octavia Blake wasn’t the end of the world after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know if anybody noticed the difference, but lexa's pov is usually more present-centered.  
> i'm writing this way because i don't want to spoil too much of her history, otherwise it gets repetitive and it'll reveal too much from future plots.  
> anyway, for those who might think this is going too slow, you'll be pleased to know we're getting _there_ on the next chapter. and things won't move at a glacial pace from there. you just have to wait and see. :P  
>  thank you for everybody who takes the time to write a comment, i really love to hear what you think of each chapters!  
> you guys are the best :)


	7. Survivors Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy's party — of all places — is where Clarke and Lexa decide to get it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys won't get spoiled, most chapters won't have 14k words lol :P

Lexa was the first to wake up in the mess of tangled bodies on their living room. Well, second if she counted Echo, but she never did these days because no one ever woke up before Echo. They all fell asleep at different times during their Stranger Things marathon, Lexa herself could not remember the exact moment she gave in, however she distinctly remembered Harper already drooling on her thigh, her head heavily rested on Lexa’s lap, before Barb — “Lesbian!” Anya had called, raising a hand that Lexa was quick to high five, when the character had casually mentioned Nancy’s ‘new’ bra — went missing.

Her phone buzzed again on her back pocket and she realized the reason she woke up in the first place. She skillfully grabbed the device without startling Harper’s sleeping head from her lap and checked her 8AM notifications.

 

 **Blake  
** **today, 8:17AM**

 

You awake?  
I’m jogging not far from your place  
Wanna do the yoga thing?

 

Are you creepily jogging near  
my house so I can help you  
with yoga?

 

Maybe?  
Will you help me?

 

Sure  
I’ll be on the front yard in 15

 

Sweet  
Meet you there 

 

Lexa replaced her lap with a cushion for Harper’s head to lay on and made her way to the kitchen. She was still on her Arkadia hoodie and Adidas shorts, and slept with her glasses on her face, so she figured that there was no need to change for a quick yoga session with the rookie. She did need breakfast though, and was glad when she found Echo moving around in the kitchen. Lexa sat on a high stool by the kitchen counter and blew a kiss to her roommate who promptly poured fresh coffee on her favorite mug. She inhaled the warm scent and took a soothing sip before letting a pleased sigh escape her lips.

“What are you doing up?” Echo asked coming to stand right in front of her on the other side of the counter.

“My phone buzzed.”

“Want the special?”

“Yes.” Lexa didn’t even need to know what the special entailed, Echo was such a genius when it came to breakfast that when the fullback player pushed her a bowl with yogurt, honey and a selection of berries, Lexa had to wonder what she had done to deserve such amazing roommates.

“You’re the best.” She moaned at the first spoon.

“Anything for the commander.” Echo smiled turning her back to fix another bowl to whoever would wake up next.

“Are we doing anything for lunch?” Lexa asked when her roommate returned to her spot across the counter.

“Anya said something about a discount code or something at Polis Pizza, we could order some.” Echo answered around a spoonful of her own mixed yogurt.

“What are you bitches talking about me?” Anya sauntered behind Lexa, stretching her arms above her head and sitting on the stool beside the quarterback.

“Good morning to you too.” Lexa offered behind the rim of her coffee mug. “Lunch. Discount. Polis Pizza.” She added on a mouth full of berries.

“Ugh, yes.” Anya muttered when Echo offered her a mug full of coffee and a bowl with her breakfast special. “I love that they’re serving lunch now. Took ‘em long enough to figure out that college students are lazy cookers.”

Lexa’s phone buzzed again and she read Blake’s short text on the notifications screen letting her know that she was already waiting for her on their front porch. Lexa sped her process on the yogurt bowl, taking larger spoonfuls and quicker bites to no let Blake waiting long.

“How’s that thing with the rookie going?” Anya asked and Lexa wondered if her friend had some sort of bionic sensor or something.

“It’s all right.” She took a quick sip on her mug. “She’s really invested and maybe a little bit too excited, but I think we might get a great thing out of it.”

“Oh my god, are you going to sleep with her?”

“What— No!” Lexa almost spat her coffee. “Jesus, Anya, stop being so gross.”

“What is gross about sleeping with a hot rookie?”

“Not everything is about sex, you know?” Lexa shot her a glare.

“I’m just saying, she invited you to that party tonight.” Anya shrugged not in the slightest intimidated by Lexa’s glare.

“She also invited _all_ of you.”

“I’d sleep with her.” Anya countered as if it was an obvious thing to say and Lexa was shocked to see Echo nodding along.

“No. Sleeping. With. Teammates.” Lexa drawled pointing her finger at the other two girls while getting off the stool and dropping her bowl and mug on the sink.

“Where are you going?” Echo chuckled as Lexa made her way out of the kitchen.

“Yoga.” She answered grabbing the mat she left in the living room and heading to their front door.

 

Lexa found Blake sitting on the steps of their front porch, legs frantically moving as she impatiently waited for the quarterback to join her outside.

“You want some coffee?” Lexa asked grabbing the girl’s attention and pointed to her back indicating the inside of the house.

“Oh no.” Blake shook her head with a smile. “I don’t drink coffee, gets me too worked up.”

 _That’s probably wise_ , Lexa thought nodding her understatement to Blake. She layed her mat on the ground, prompting Blake to do the same beside her.

“I watched some stuff online and tried to follow some classes,” Blake started as she followed Lexa in some standards stretches. “but it’s hard to keep my eyes on the screen while I bend myself away.”

“I understand.”

They stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, with Blake making an extra effort not to disturb Lexa’s concentration and peaceful expression. The quarterback offered a few pointers whenever she caught Blake doing something wrong, and she was glad to notice the younger girl taking the exercise more seriously than the day before.

Lexa could see that the girl really wanted to engage in a conversation, throwing side glances at her every so often, and maybe it was because it was Saturday or it was because Lexa just had a pretty good breakfast, but she decided to give in.

“Do you need us to bring anything to your party?”

“You’re all coming?” Blake beamed shooting her head to the right to meet Lexa’s eyes. The quarterback clicked her tongue disapprovingly and Blake quickly retrieved her head downwards shyly. “Sorry. And no, you don’t have to bring anything. My brother is throwing the party and it’s sort of a tradition of his. He does it every year, like a celebration for surviving the first week of classes.”

They fell into silence again, Lexa too focused on her routine to offer a new subject. She started to think about a few moves and plays she wanted the wide receiver to pick up and wondered if Blake was ready for specific trainings. If Lexa had to spend this much time with the rookie, she’d might as well start fine tuning Blake to play in sync with her. She should’ve probably talk to coach Indra about their scheduled games so she could start to predict when Blake would be ready to start as her main wide receiver. This would actually be tricky. Niylah had been playing as the main wide receiver ever since Lexa left the position to start as quarterback, and even though the girl hadn’t really been showing her A game in this year’s trainings, she was the rightful player to the position. They had achieved a lot together, despite the fact that Lexa never managed to strike a further relationship with her teammate, the girl didn’t really make it easy on Lexa’s lack of social skills. They barely talked outside of the trainings and, to be honest, Lexa never thought too much of it. However now with the prospect of having to extract Niylah from her position, Lexa wondered if having some sort of camaraderie with the girl wouldn’t make things easier.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Lexa replied without thinking, still very much immersed on her inner turmoil.

“Why weren’t you at the boot camp? I mean, you even arrived late on the last day.” That took Lexa by surprise, she was pretty sure Blake was going to ask her something about yoga, and she lifted her head to silently lock her eyes into Blake’s expectant ones. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get on your business, is just that I was really curious because we heard so much about you, y’know, _the commander_ and stuff, and it was so weird to find out that it was _you_ and you weren’t there all along. Shit, sorry. I’m babbling.” Blake chuckled and dropped her head again to hide her embarrassment.

“It’s okay.” Lexa shook her head and pulled out of her position to sit on the mat, Blake quickly followed suit. “I didn’t mean to not be there. It’s not like I’m never on boot camp, quite the opposite, actually. I’m usually very invested in it, it’s a very important part of the season.” Blake nodded seriously, afraid that if she spoke again Lexa would refrain from continuing. “I got a call back from a Law firm, about an internship application, and had to come back to New York for a few days to secure a position on their selective process.”

“Cool.” Blake nodded this time with a half smile. “Did you get it? The internship?”

“Things like this take time.” Lexa offered with a tight lipped smile. She didn’t like to discuss her open plans with other people, always afraid that something could jinx them, but it would be rude to not answer Blake. “It’s still on the early stages of the selective process.”

“I hope you get it.” The way Blake said it, it was so earnest and kind that Lexa was taken aback by how generous the younger girl was. She offered her an honest smile in return that Blake was fast to reciprocate.

“I should get going.” Blake got on her feet prompting Lexa to follow suit. “Bellamy probably wants me to go shopping with him.”

“All right.” Lexa nodded, guessing Bellamy to be Octavia’s brother, and offered her hand for the other girl to shake goodbye.

 

“Woods, come on,” Anya’s voice came from inside the house before the front door was brusquely swung open. “you don’t have to hide outside just because I said the rookie wanted to bang you.”

 

Lexa probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights, she knew her face was getting redder by the second and her hand was still firmly clasped against Blake’s.

“Okay, this is awkward.” Anya stated the obvious and shamelessly laughed at the mortified expression on Lexa’s face.

To her credit Blake actually joined Anya and laughed along at the situation, easing Lexa’s discomfort even if the tinniest bit, and detangled their handshake to wipe the laughing tears from the corner of her eyes.

“Shit, I really should go.” She said still laughing and jumping the three steps on their front porch to the front yard. “And you know… I’m not the one who actually wants to bang you.” Blake smirked turning around to catch Lexa’s shocked expression and to witness Anya’s low whistle at her comment.

Blake started a light jog in the direction of the dirt road and Anya was still laughing, her hands on her knees, but Lexa was too stunned by the information — that there was, in fact, _someone_ who wanted to bang her — to smack Anya’s head for the whole situation.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke had woken up early with a phone call from her mother, who she knew had terrible working schedules, but did she really need to call Clarke at 8:30 on a Saturday morning? Clarke wouldn’t complain, even though her tired tone was perceived by her mother. She just wanted to check-in on Clarke’s first week, ask questions about her classes and things like that, but whenever they talked about school Clarke’s anxieties kicked in full force.

She wasn’t an anxious person per se, actually this was a new thing for her. Clarke had always been a confident student, well spoken and driven. Her insecurities started with college applications and too long conversations about med school with her mother. Abigail Griffin was a renowned general surgeon on the East coast, a frequently published researcher and she was a guest teacher at Harvard med from time to time, so it was natural for Clarke to feel a little insecure about following her mother’s footsteps. Her success was quite intimidating.

However Abby was nothing but supportive of Clarke, always making very clear that it didn’t matter the path the girl chose to follow, something that Clarke often perceived as her mother not being all that confident that Clarke had what it took to survive medical education.

Raven had said she was just being paranoid, “Clarke, your mother gave you a fake suture kit when you were 9. I’m pretty sure she cries every time she sees you in scrubs on Halloween” (It had become a tradition of hers, starting at the age of seven, to wear scrubs on Halloween). It didn’t do much to quell Clarke’s nerves though, but Octavia taught her a trick she had recently learned, to take a deep breath through your nose and let go slowly and steadily through your mouth, and surprisingly enough it had calmed her down once she hung up the phone.

She got up from her bed and grabbed her bag deciding to work on her Calculus exercise list on the kitchen counter, endless coffee and an open space seemed more adequate for a Saturday morning study session. The earlier she finished the sheets, the sooner she could start pre gaming for Bell’s party with her friends. She emerged from the hallway, and was surprised to find Raven already on the couch with furrowed brows turning a screwdriver on her leg brace.

“Everything okay?” Clarke asked with a hint of concern on her voice as she made her way to the kitchen to pour herself some coffee. Raven had been perfecting her leg brace through the years ever since her accident, so much so that they sometimes even forgot about the damn thing. However, Clarke did still remember the times when the device would act up so bad Raven wouldn’t be able to walk for days. It had been a long while since Raven last had a problem with her brace, yet Clarke would never cease to worry about it.

“Hm?” Raven’s head shot up upon hearing Clarke’s voice, noticing her concerned expression. “Oh yeah, it’s fine. Standard procedures.” She winked at the blonde. “What’re you doing up so early?”

“Mom called.” Clarke sighed earning a sympathetic smile from her friend. “And I need to finish a Calculus exercise sheet so I can enjoy Bell’s party with a clear conscience.”

“Want some help?” Raven got up, dropping the screwdriver on the coffee table and moved to take a look on the sheets of paper Clarke spread on the kitchen counter.

“It’s all right, I think I can manage.” The blonde smiled reaching for the coffee pot that Raven had recently made.

Clarke worked on her equations with ease, sipping on her mug and munching cereal as Raven busied herself cleaning the kitchen, checking her social medias and revising Clarke’s work whenever the girl asked her to. They were casually chatting about a project Raven had got to develop for one of her classes when they were startled by Bellamy’s voice loudly entering their house.

“Good morning, ladies!” He swung the door open without hesitation.

“We should really start locking our door.” Clarke said with a hand over her heart still beating fast.

“What’re you doing here?” Raven snickered with an incredulous look on her face.

“I’m grabbing Octavia to go shopping with me.” He grinned completely not bothered about scaring the shit out of the girls and walked over them on the kitchen counter, kissing the top of Clarke’s head and then Raven’s cheek. “I want this party to be _perfect_.”

“O’s not home.” Clarke offered turning her attention back to her exercise sheet. “She left early for her morning jog.”

“She should be back soon, though.” Raven said checking the time on her phone. “Coffee?” The girl started pouring it on a mug upon Bellamy’s nod. “Why do you want this party to be so perfect?”

“I want Octavia to keep my tradition alive after I graduate.” He grinned behind a sip of coffee. “It’s gonna be a Blake legacy.”

“You’re so weird, Bellamy.” Raven muttered with a look of disapproval on her face and Clarke chuckled her agreement not taking her eyes from her math problem.

“You’ll see for yourselves, it’s probably one of the best parties of the semester.”

“I don’t know, Bell, the football lake party was pretty awesome.” Clarke offered scribbling something down on her work and Raven hummed along.

“Pfft.” He put his mug down on the counter and pushed his hair back from his forehead. “Those jock parties have nothing on me.”

“You do realize if Octavia’s the one trowing the party next year, it _will_ be a jock party, right?” Raven deadpanned.

“Why are you fuckers using my name in vain?” Octavia entered their living room extracting her earbuds and taking her shoes off by the door. Clarke grabbed her cereal bowl and offered her way, eyes still concentrated on her work sheet; as Octavia took it, she didn’t waste any time finishing Clarke’s cereal and looked up at her brother, mouthful of frosted flakes. “What’s up?”

“Where were you?” Bellamy asked as he took another sip of his coffee.

Clarke looked up at him with a confused expression — she had just told him Octavia was out jogging — and was on her way of repeating the information to him when Octavia beat her to it.

“I was at Lexa’s.” She said nonchalantly, eyes on her cereal, not noticing how everybody was legitimately surprised at her answer. Clarke opened her mouth to say something but was too taken aback by the mention of the quarterback to figure out what she was actually going to say. Raven eyed Octavia like she just saw the girl for the first time, probably completely misleading Octavia’s statement from what it actually meant. And Bellamy looked weirdly thrown off by the mention of Lexa’s name.

“What were you doing with _her_?” He snapped roughly and this time everybody noticed the change of atmosphere at the mention of the quarterback.

“None of _your_ goddamn business.” Octavia snapped back petulantly fixing a defiant glare at her brother, clearly just to spite him even more. The girls knew how much Octavia hated Bellamy’s excessive protective side. She even confessed to them that she only finally decided on coming to Arkadia because Bellamy was already a senior and she wouldn’t have to deal with the boy smothering her throughout her whole academic life.

“Chill, Bell. This house is almost a Lexa Woods fan club.” Raven laughed nervously trying to ease the unexpected tension, throwing a side eyed glance at Clarke clearly asking for help.

“Yeah, Bell, take it easy.” Clarke said in a calm voice, still concerned by the silent frenzy on his eyes.

“I don’t want you relating with that girl.” He snarled at Octavia through clenched teeth, completely ignoring the other girls’ comments and Clarke was suddenly very disturbed by this turn of events. Bellamy never expressed such strong dislike towards Lexa before, — not that the girls had discussed the quarterback with him that often, but he knew Octavia played on her team and that Clarke had discovered Lexa to be the stretching-girl she was crushing on and he never bothered to say something until now.

“ _Bellamy._ ” Clarke tried more sternly before Octavia could jump her brother’s throat. “Aren’t you being a little excessive? I mean, you know Lexa is Octavia’s captain and she has been helping her with extra trainings.” Clarke continued not caring that Octavia hadn’t really talked to them about what she actually had been doing with Lexa, all Clarke knew was that it was clearly helping Octavia focus and she fully supported it. “And since when do you have such a problem with her anyway?”

“Since when are you _hanging out_ with her?” He spat again at his sister, still ignoring Clarke and Raven’s attempts at soothing the situation. “She is a bad influence, I don’t want you hanging out with her.”

“You don’t even know her!” Octavia snickered incredulously throwing her free arm in the air, bowl of cereal tightly grasped and momentarily forgotten at her right hand.

“I know she is a player! She feeds off of people’s attention and doesn’t care about their feelings!” Bellamy raised his voice. “She fucks around. I don’t want her near you.”

“Bellamy, what the fuck?” Raven grabbed his arm and tried to ground him back. “It’s not even Octavia who’s interested in her—”

“And so what if I was!?” Octavia shouted at them and let a dry laugh escape her lips. Clarke eyed Raven disbelievingly: _did Octavia just came out to them?_ “She’s fucking hot! And one of the nicest people I’ve met in this school! You don’t fucking _know_ her!” She kept laughing and Bellamy’s face turned completely red, his jaw strongly clenched. They stared at each other for far too long and Clarke wondered if she should stand between the two of them before someone did something stupid. Octavia took a deep breath, and Clarke recognized her trick to stabilize her nerves and decided to trust the girl to not do anything too dramatic. “Get the fuck out of here, Bell. Before we all give up on your stupid party.” Octavia said in a calmer voice, putting the cereal bowl on the counter beside Clarke’s Calculus work. “And guess what? Lexa is coming to the party, I invited her, and you’re gonna be fucking nice to her because she is my _friend_.”

Bellamy stood there breathing heavily through his nose, his face was livid and hair a complete mess, his eyes never leaving Octavia’s as if they’re arguing some more in a way Clarke and Raven couldn’t understand.

“Okay.” He said finally, letting his fists relax against his sides. “I’ll see you girls later.” And with that he strode to the front door without so much as a glance back towards them and left the house not bothering to close the door.

“What the fuck just happened?” Raven turned her head incredulously from Clarke to Octavia.

“Bellamy can be such an asshole sometimes.” Octavia said dismissively making her way to the fridge to grab a bottle of water, as if what just happened wasn’t completely alarming. “And don’t worry, princess, I don’t wanna bang Lexa.” She grinned at Clarke standing by the open door of the fridge. “I mean, I guess I would, cause as you know she’s totally hot. But you saw her first, I respect that. Bros before hoes, you know? And anyway, I’m pretty sure she’s got sweet eyes for you too.”

“I— I wasn’t worried.” Clarke tried to reply firmly to Octavia’s babbling despite the heat on her cheeks. “Why does Bellamy suddenly hates her so much?”

“Beats me.” Octavia scoffed drinking straight form the water bottle and making her way back to the counter. “He’s probably jealous that she can get more girls than him.”

“What were you doing at her place anyway?” Raven inquired cautiously. “I mean, we both thought you were jogging.”

“I was.” Octavia replied almost defensively. “I jogged there.” She clarified lamely, chewing on her bottom lip, not quite meeting their eyes and Clarke instantly recognized that Octavia wanted to share something with them but didn’t know how. Suddenly Clarke wondered if Octavia really was about to come out to them. “She’s teaching me yoga.”

Well, that was unexpected.

“What?” Clarke choked on her own saliva.

“Yeah.” Octavia replied more confident, slightly puffing her chest. “She’s teaching me yoga, to help me breath better when running on the games, and you know it also helps with stretching, which is like super important for the muscles and stuff,” She rambled somewhat excited. “Lexa even said it might make me more focused.”

“Are you telling me that Lexa — _hot-stretching-girl Lexa_ — is teaching you yoga?” Raven laughed grabbing the edges of the kitchen counter. “No wonder you’re suddenly so _gay_.”

“Hey, I’m not gay.” Octavia said with furrowed brows, her cheeks pink. “Maybe not straight, but I’m definitely not gay either.” She then giggled at herself.

“Oh my god.” Clarke joined them on the laughter. “Talk about an eventful morning! It’s not even 10:30 and Bellamy already declared World War III against Lexa and Octavia _finally_ discovered the colorful side of the sexuality spectrum.”

“You know,” Raven started in a contemplating tone tapping a finger on her chin. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re blessed or cursed by the shit show that is the Blake family.”

“Definitely blessed.” Octavia scoffed offended.

“Are you two going to be okay?” Clarke asked still concerned by their argument.

“Yeah, sure.” Octavia waved a hand with an unimpressed expression, as if everything was completely normal and Bellamy hadn’t almost imploded inside their kitchen. “I’m gonna grab a shower and head to his place to help out with the party. You guys should come by for lunch, I hear that Murphy guy is gonna grill some burgers again.” And with that Octavia sauntered away from the kitchen leaving Clarke and Raven to dwell with the recent events by themselves.

“Dude, I legit thought Bell was gonna start throwing our mugs on the ground.” Raven laughed wide eyed when she heard Octavia closing the bathroom door.

“I know!” Clarke exclaimed with wide eyes of her own, grabbing the water bottle Octavia left on the counter and taking long gulps herself, her Calculus exercises long forgotten. “Where do you think he’s coming from with this stuff?”

“Fuck if I know.” Raven shook her head and grabbed the water bottle Clarke was now extending her way. “But I don’t wanna be in the same room as Bell when he sees Lexa walking in on his beloved party.”

 

 

* * *

 

  

Blake had told her that the party would probably start around 8PM, so the girls convinced Lexa that they should arrive a couple of hours later, “Fashionably late” Harper had argued, and the quarterback agreed to, knowing well that her punctuality trait was rather lame when it came to parties.

Despite being one of the most popular people on school, Lexa hardly frequented parties outside of her group of friends, and the reason for that was precisely her ‘popularity’. People would often get disappointed, sometimes even irritated, by the fact that the star quarterback of Arkadia’s women football team sucked at social interactions. It was almost as if they felt like she didn’t live up to the hype.

Lexa personally didn’t care, most people she had classes with weren’t invested in sports and the girls and guys from the football teams were more than content with her being the way that she was, so Lexa usually stuck with parties organized by football players. She hoped that Blake’s brother and his friends wouldn’t pay too much attention by her presence there and try to discuss with her the future of the team or even worse, try to tell her how to do her job.

She couldn’t deny that knowing that Clarke would be there somehow put her mind at ease. The girl had been such a pleasant company the few times Lexa had interacted with her that she was kind of looking forward to seeing her again.

Also, there was the fact that Blake insinuated that someone wanted to bang her, and Lexa immediately thought of Clarke, but that wasn’t something she was putting too much energy on.

Except she was.

Clarke was refreshing. Lexa felt like she could talk to her about absolutely anything, and that freaked her out a little bit. Lexa never wanted to talk all that much in the first place, and she could count on one hand the number of people she legitimately felt comfortable enough to strike real conversations like the ones she _already_ had with Clarke.

What would happen if they actually got together? Lexa hadn’t had a problem with casual sex and hook-ups with other girls before, hell it was just a couple of days ago since she and Arabella did just that. Anya was right, Clarke seemed very different from the girls that usually ended up in Lexa’s bed for one night stands. And it was precisely _that_ that made Lexa feel like she wouldn’t be able to engage in something more than friendship with Clarke and not want to pursue things further.

And Lexa Woods did _not_ pursue things further. Like ever. At least not since Costia on high school. It was just easier that way, Lexa had too much happening on her life at the same time, relationships were messy and she couldn’t afford to loose focus. Not when she was so close to getting everything she ever wanted. Even if Clarke proved herself to be worth the risk, Lexa wouldn’t really have much to offer anyway. She was a senior, a very busy senior, who would be leaving the state by the end of this academic year and Clarke was only a freshman, with still four years ahead in this school and four more in med school at God knows where— _Shit_ , was Lexa really already thinking that far ahead?

In retrospect, she definitely should’ve brought the girl up on her conversation with Costia the night before. If there was one person who could understand Lexa’s uneasiness towards Clarke, it would be her. After all, Costia was the last person who made Lexa feel this comfortable with just a sweet smile and a few kind words.

 

“Woods? _Lexa!_ ”

 

She jumped in her desk chair and brusquely whipped her head around to find Anya’s smirking figure on her bedroom door. _How long was she there?_

“What are daydreaming about?” Anya stared curiously at her before Lexa could say anything.

“No one— Nothing.” She shook her head to defog her mind as Anya suspiciously narrowed her eyes at her. “What’s up?”

“The girls are waiting downstairs. Are you ready to go?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, electing a chuckle out of Lexa. Anya was definitely the most excited about the party of all the girls, and come to think of it, her presence there would also put Lexa’s nerves more at ease. At least she knew nobody managed to bother them too much about football as long as Anya was around to scare people away with her death glares.

 

+++

 

They could hear the loud music before even turning the corner of the street of the address Blake had texted Lexa and suddenly she wondered if the younger girl hadn’t downplayed the whole thing a little bit. They could already see some people on the front yard of the white house, red cups in their hands while animatedly chatting away; Lexa didn’t recognize a single face even though a few people nodded their heads in their direction as they reached the front of the house. The music was clearly coming from inside and Lexa looked at Anya with a silent question on her face before they both shrugged and entered the front door, with Harper following suit and Echo and Kate staying behind, already greeting somebody they apparently knew.

The living room was about the same size as theirs at the lake house, and the furniture was clearly pushed aside to make space for an improvised ‘dance floor’, where way more people than Lexa thought could possibly fit in the room were dancing, walking around and trying to shout-talk beyond the insanely loud volume of the music. Above the large sliding glass doors that lead to the back yard, a wide hand-painted banner read “ _SURVIVORS PARTY_ ” in terrible handwriting, which Lexa actually thought fitting.

“LEXA!” She turned just in time to catch a very enthusiastic (and maybe already drunk) Octavia Blake jumping her in an overly excited hug. “I’M SO GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT!” She kept shouting on Lexa’s ear.

“I CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE.” Lexa shouted back as Blake laughed loudly and grabbed her arm unceremoniously to lead her somewhere else. She turned back to try and call Anya and Harper to follow them, but her friends were already nowhere to be seen.

Blake pushed through some people and led them to next room, a kitchen filled with bottles of different types and sizes on every available surface and considerably less people mingling around. Lexa was relived to notice the music wasn’t as loud and she instantly felt like she could breath easier, despite the fact that she was less than ten minutes inside this party and already managed to loose all of her roommates on the way in.

“What do you wanna drink?” Blake asked excitedly grabbing an empty red cup and rummaging through the bottles around them. “We have vodka, rum, cheap whiskey, expensive tequila…” She trailed on, mixing as she pleased, not bothering to check for Lexa’s reaction to her propositions.

Lexa herself was barely listening, still bothered by the loud volume and thumping bass of the music in the next room. She eyed the kitchen curiously, checking the people who entered the room laughing loudly and mixing drinks enthusiastically, but still couldn’t find a single familiar face among the crowd.

Blake thrusted the cup on her hand, spilling a little on the ground and Lexa brought her attention back to the rookie, who she then noticed staring across the room at a tall dark haired guy, casually leaning on the sink with a weird looking boy beside him. His eyes were narrowed at their direction and he was practically glaring at the both of them, hiding half of his face behind a red cup.

To Lexa’s surprise, Blake grabbed her arm again and strode in the direction of the boys before Lexa could open her mouth to suggest that it might not be the best idea.

“Lexa,” Blake drawled her name as if making a political argument when they reached them, her eyes never leaving the taller guy’s. “This is my brother Bellamy, he is a big fan.” She then grinned  mischievously at Lexa who looked completely confused from Blake’s triumphant expression to her brother’s murderous look.

“Hi.” Lexa extended her free hand with her brows still furrowed in confusion at the weird atmosphere. “I’m Lexa, Octavia’s football captain. It’s nice to meet you.”

The tall guy — Bellamy — trained his stare straight into Lexa’s eyes, and if the girl was easily intimidated she would definitely be affected by it, however football taught her a thing or two and she held his stare almost competitively, her hand still stretched out, until he finally gave in on his apparent reservations and grasped it and shook it firmly.

“Welcome.” He offered flexing his jaw back and forth, and Lexa could recognize Octavia’s stubborn traits on the boy’s face.

“Looks like a great party.” Lexa tried politely with a tight lipped smile as Bellamy dropped her hand.

“I’m Murphy.” The weird looking guy said making his presence known and Lexa turned to shake his hand as Bellamy looked down on him burning holes on the side of the boy’s head.

They stood there awkwardly, Blake and her brother apparently challenging one another into a game of who can stare harder at the other while Murphy drank from his cup, his eyes shifting from Octavia to Bellamy as if he was watching a tennis match.

Lexa decided she was way too sober for this and nudged Blake’s ribs lightly with her elbow.

“Okay, I’m gonna go find—”

“Clarke’s outside.” Octavia quickly turned her attention back to Lexa, smirking at her.

“I was going to say Anya.” Lexa defended herself mildly offended.

“Yeah, right.” Octavia scoffed unimpressed taking a sip of her green drink. “Go on, I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Lexa didn’t waste another second before leaving the kitchen and the company of Blake, her sullen brother and their creepy friend and headed back into the loud living room. All of her roommates were nowhere to be found and Lexa was starting to get uncomfortable, standing by herself in the middle of the room as people started to recognize her and not so subtlety point at her direction while whispering with their friends. She really hated non-football parties.

Lexa quickly made her way to the back yard, in hopes to escape the crowded room and loud music as well as to catch some fresh air or maybe at least find one of the people she came there with. Only when she reached outside, she realized she was still holding the cup Blake thrusted in her hand. It had a weird shade of brown, almost gray-ish, liquid inside and Lexa sniffed tentatively only to instantly retch and almost get drunk exclusively from the strong scent of pure alcohol. _What the fuck did Blake put inside this cup?_ She instantly dumped the thing in the first trash can she could find.

When she looked up from her discarded menacing drink, Lexa scanned the area filled with all kind of groups animatedly enjoying themselves and she couldn’t help her smile when she noticed a familiar head of bright blonde hair in a loose bun. Clarke stood there with her other roommate, Raven, and a slender boy beside an excessively large plastic pool. She had her back turned to where Lexa was and it was Raven who spotted the quarterback and waved for her to approach them with an amused smirk on her lips.

“Hey.” Lexa waved back as she approached the group shyly.

“You looked completely lost.” Raven laughed at Lexa’s apparent apprehension.

Clarke’s blue eyes were shining when they met Lexa’s and she smiled brightly when the quarterback stopped to stand beside her, offering an awkward half smile in return.

“Yeah,” She chuckled releasing some of the tension from her shoulders and turning her attention back to Raven. “Can’t find any of my roommates and Blake just introduced me to her brother, but he seemed kind of…intense?”

“You met Bellamy?” Clarke flew a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from spitting her beer.

“Aw man, I can’t believe we missed this.” Raven seemed genuinely upset, throwing a hand in the air dramatically.

“What? Why?” Lexa inquired completely at lost with their interest in her meeting Blake’s brother, and the girls started laughing uncontrollably upon Lexa’s confused face as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

“I’m Monty.” The quiet boy offered his hand tentatively, apparently taking pity of Lexa’s obliviousness and shaking his head with a smile as the girls tried and failed to contain their laughing fit. “I’ve heard so much about you, It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You did?” Lexa shot up her eyebrows surprised as she shook his hand briefly.

“From Octavia.” Clarke interjected with a serious face, suddenly seeming to quickly sober up at what the boy had said.

“Yeah, from Octavia” He eyed Clarke suspiciously.

Lexa caught with the corner of her eye Raven elbowing Clarke in the ribs and the blonde shot her roommate a not so subtle glare before clearing her throat and turning her attention back to Lexa.

“So, are you enjoying the party?” She smiled and Lexa found herself drawn by the openness that Clarke seemed to spark with such a simple gesture.

“I kinda just got here.” Lexa smiled back just as easily, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s too loud inside, but the back yard looks pretty nice.” She offered taking note of the Christmas lights hung around trees and the back of the roof.

“Thanks.” Clarke flashed her another bigger, brighter smile. “Me and the girls decorated outside, Bellamy and the guys inside.” She chuckled at herself.

Lexa noticed how easy Clarke’s giggles had been bubbling up and how her eyes were shinier than they should be in the poorly illuminated back yard, and assumed that she and her friends probably already had their fair share of alcohol. Lexa felt slightly behind on the party spirits and wondered if she should’ve at least taken a sip of the drink Blake mixed her. _Ugh hell no, that thing was disgusting_ , she reasoned with herself. And despite feeling like the most sober person in the entire party, Lexa found her earlier nerves upon meeting Clarke suddenly disappearing with each smile the girl sent her way.

She was staring, but to be fair Clarke was staring right back. They held each other’s gaze, Clarke unabashedly grinning at Lexa, who, still too aware of herself, only offered the blonde a half smile in return. Clarke might’ve been solely focused on Lexa’s apparently too distracting presence, but the quarterback was sober enough to catch in her peripheral vision how Raven unceremoniously grabbed Monty’s arm and all but dragged the both of them away from the two girls.

“Your friends are not very subtle.”

“Ugh, tell me about it.” Clarke groaned shooting a glare in the direction Raven pulled Monty away. “We probably started drinking earlier than we should’ve.” She laughed turning her attention back at Lexa.

“Hm. Does that mean _you_ ’ll be the one doing something inappropriate this time?” Lexa asked trying to contain the amused grin that threatened to take over her face.

“I already told you that you weren’t inappropriate! You were _cute_!”

“You didn’t say anything about cute.” Lexa smirked smugly at Clarke’s tipsy lack of filter.

Clarke gasped exasperated, feigning offense, and surged forward tripping on nothing as she tried to shove Lexa’s shoulder in retaliation, but the quarterback was fast to catch the blonde enveloping her arms around Clarke’s middle to stabilize her, and suddenly flashes of the lake party came rushing through Lexa’s mind.

Clarke stumbling on her own feet, Lexa catching her, their closeness, the way Clarke had looked so intensely at her eyes, how darker her blue eyes were when she had whispered ‘so green’ without realizing what she was saying. How badly Lexa’d wanted to kiss her pink drunken lips right _then_ , but _yeah, they were pretty drunk_ so she probably shouldn’t have, yet Lexa couldn’t stop leaning in and suddenly her lips had found solace on Clarke’s soft skin, her cheek was warm and probably flustered and had felt so _nice_ against Lexa’s lips, but somehow she’d tore herself away and had said goodbye and Lexa couldn’t understand for the life of her _how_ she could’ve forgotten that moment, but now she remembered.

_She remembered._

“I remember, you know.”

“Is that so?” Clarke attempted to tease her, but her voice was low and shaky with their suffocating closeness.

“Oh yeah” The quarterback teased back, finding strength on the glistening spark she chased on Clarke’s expectant eyes.

“You’re bluffing.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Do it again then.” Clarke narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“You sure?” Lexa asked before she could stop herself. Was she really going for it? Was this really happening? How did she go from a casual conversation with Clarke to having the girl securely held in her arms in a matter of seconds?

“Scared now, Woods?” A perfectly sculptured brow was arched in a clear challenge.

And it was when the tip of Clarke’s tongue appeared trapped between the blonde’s teeth teasingly that Lexa decided that _fuck it_ , she really wouldn’t be able to refrain herself a second time. She leaned down without any second thought and barely caught the way Clarke held her breath and closed her eyes right before Lexa kissed her. The little surprised gasp that escaped Clarke just as their lips met left Lexa weak at the knees. Her hand came up to cup Clarke’s jaw and the tip of her fingers lightly grazed blonde hair loose from her bun’s grasp. Clarke hummed her approval when Lexa trapped her bottom lip between her own, and she drove her hands to each side of Lexa’s hips, taking the smallest step forward, to bring her front lightly flushed against Lexa’s.

Lexa suddenly felt drunk and she hadn’t had a drop of alcohol on her body, yet the feeling was so overwhelming that she had to take a step back and release Clarke’s lips. The girl still had her eyes closed and her cheeks were a cute shade of pink so Lexa leaned down again and left a quick peck on waiting lips just because.

“Not that I’m complaining” Clarke husked low when her eyes opened slowly. “But you kinda lost your bet.”

“Oh, no I didn’t.” Lexa said as she leaned down yet again and Clarke instinctively closed her eyes, as the quarterback kissed her cheek just to prove her point. “I remembered that I wanted to kiss you that night.” Lexa admitted quietly biting her own bottom lip. “But we were both too drunk, so I kissed your cheek instead.” She shrugged slightly embarrassed. 

“That was really smooth.” Clarke sighed delighted, chuckling lightly.

Lexa laughed and dropped her arms to her sides a little self consciously, yet Clarke made no move to distance herself from the other girl, so they remained close, staring at each other and Lexa knew if Anya could see her now she would be doing gaging noises on the background. Clarke glanced down for a second and frowned at Lexa’s hands.

“You’re empty handed.” It was not a question.

“Blake made me a disgusting cup, I think I would’ve choked if I had drunk from it.” Lexa grimaced remembering the ugly color and strong smell of the cup she threw away.

“Okay, now that you’ve met Bell you gotta stop calling Octavia ‘Blake’, cause I just pictured Bellamy giving you a questionable cup and I instantly worried if he had tried to poison you.” Clarke said seriously, absently grabbing one of Lexa’s hands to play with her fingers as if it was something they did often.

“Am I missing something here? Because now that you’ve mentioned it, he did look like he could’ve done just that.” Lexa furrowed her brows legitimately worried at the prospect.

“Let me grab you something. What do you drink?” Clarke grinned, twirling her own fingers around Lexa’s, completely ignoring the mildly concern on the quarterback’s face.

“Beer is fine.” Lexa allowed herself to relax at the expense of Clarke’s movements on her hand.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a sec, stay here.” The blonde said cheerfully as she dropped Lexa’s hand and turned on her heels to get them some drinks.

Lexa sighed loudly as soon as Clarke was out of her sight. She still hadn’t entirely processed the fact that they had just kissed. Her lips were on Clarke’s just a minute ago. _Clarke_. The girl Lexa was kind of freaking out about seeing again just before coming to this party, _where she just kissed her_. Just like that. As if the way Clarke made her body feel lighter and how she could pull Lexa’s thoughts straight from her mind wasn’t completely terrifying.

They should talk.

Right?

She should talk about this with Clarke, definitely. See where she stood and what she thought of all this. Although, Clarke seemed a little drunk to be having this conversation— _Crap_. Did she just take advantage of a drunken girl?

“Lexa? Is that you?” A familiar voice called from her left and Lexa was pulled away from the commotion going on inside her brain.

She turned around and was met with Arabella in all her glory, thin dark box braids pulled up in a big high bun, her caramel skin glowing under the Christmas lights and her dashing grin standing out directed at Lexa.

Arabella was shorter than her, barely taller than Lexa’s shoulders, but the girl never went unnoticed. She was really unpretentious and would never pass an opportunity to be friendly, which led to her practically forcing Lexa into their unusual friendship. Not that she was annoying, Lexa thought quite the opposite, she was rather pleasant to be around and to her credit, she was one of the rare people that insisted on getting passed Lexa’s guarded personality to remain in the quarterback’s social life somehow.

“Hey! Arabella!” Lexa smiled glancing around nervously. This had potential to get _really_ awkward, _really_ fast. “What’re you doing here?”

“That’s what I was about to ask you.” She chuckled standing beside Lexa, sipping on a neon orange straw on her filled red cup, eyes up to meet Lexa’s.

“Blake invited me.” Lexa half smiled down meeting Arabella’s dark brown eyes.

“Really? That’s awesome! I didn’t know you two were friends.” She grinned again, her brows furrowed in surprised at the information.

“Well, I—yeah, I guess we’ve gotten close.” Lexa shrugged considering her last few days with the rookie. “Wait, how do _you_ know Blake?”

“We have a shit ton of classes together.”

“What— Seriously?” _How on earth was Blake taking senior classes?_

“Uh, yeah?” Arabella eyed her curiously, as she usually did with Lexa. She never ceased to point out to her how positively surprised she was to discover just how different Lexa was to the usual star college athletes. “What about you, how d’you know Blake?”

“I’m the team’s captain.” Lexa deadpanned as if it was obvious.

“Bellamy plays sports?” Arabella gasped half laughing, her eyes shining with amusement.

“Uh? No, Octavia— Oh! We’re not talking about the same Blake.” Clarke really had a point about not calling Octavia ‘Blake’.

“Clearly.” Arabella laughed light heartedly, taking another sip on her neon straw. Then something apparently clicked on her mind and she gasped loudly, her eyes widening at Lexa. “Oh my god, are you sleeping with Bellamy’s little sister?”

“What— NO! Why does everybody keep asking me that?” Lexa startled frantically, quickly connecting a few dots together. “Wait a second, does _he_ think I’m sleeping with his sister?”

Arabella laughed soundly at Lexa’s panicked expression. “I wouldn’t want to be on your shoes if he did.” The quarterback ran a hand through her loose hair to grip at the back of her neck, re-running her encounter with Octavia’s brother on her mind when Arabella caught her attention again.  “So, are you alone tonight?”

“I came with my roommates.” Lexa replied absently, taking the opportunity to look around the back yard for any sign of them. _Yep, still missing._

“Let me rephrase it then: Are you _going home_ alone tonight?”

 _Oh_. Lexa’s eyes widened with the implication behind the girl’s question and she turned on her side to face Arabella more properly. “I—I thought we said it was a one time thing” She rambled shifting her weight on her feet and scratching the back of her neck awkwardly as Arabella seemed to be enjoying her flustered state a little bit too much. “I didn’t realize you were— I mean—“

“Chill, Lex” Arabella bursted out giggling and grabbed Lexa’s shoulder for support. “We had a great time, I’m not in love with you or anything.” Arabella said making a poor job of trying to stifle her giggles behind her cup. “Shit, you know I don’t have time for that kind of mess. Do your football fans know you’re this socially awkward?”

“Why do you think I never leave the lake house?” Lexa scoffed playfully somewhat relieved that Arabella wasn’t making a big deal of their conversation, earning another giggle from the other girl.

“You’re cute.” Arabella said as she regained her composure, letting go of Lexa’s shoulder to grab her neon straw once again.

“Apparently that is the statement of the night.” Lexa sighed almost to herself wondering what was taking Clarke so long to come back with their beers.

“Do you know that chick?” Arabella pointed discreetly with her cup somewhere behind Lexa, further from them.

“Who?” Lexa turned to follow Arabella’s line of sight and easily spotted a serious looking Clarke talking with Raven, two red cups on her hand, staring straight into Lexa and Arabella. “Oh yeah, that’s Clarke.” The quarterback said, meeting Clarke’s gaze in the distance and offering a small waggle of her fingers as a greeting, not being able to hide her smile at seeing Clarke again. She was glad to notice the blonde easing from her apparent serious expression and smiling as she waved a red cup back in response.

“Damn, I guess you’re _not_ going home alone tonight.” Arabella eyed Lexa’s incessant smile teasingly.

“ _Arabella._ ” Lexa tried to admonish the girl, redirecting her gaze from Clarke back to the girl beside her.

“What?” She laughed shamelessly meeting Lexa’s eyes before turning her attention back at Clarke on the other side of the back yard. “Shit, I better go before blondie shoots daggers at me with her eyes. See you Tuesday in class.” She giggled and grabbed Lexa’s shoulder for support again, getting on the tip of her toes to reach the quarterback and give her a quick kiss on her cheek before making her way to the inside of the party.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa Woods had just kissed her.

Clarke couldn’t contain her grin as she crossed the back yard in search of a beer keg. She was floating around cloud 9 with each step because Lexa had held her face as her puffy, _perfect_ soft lips firmly pressed against Clarke’s wanting ones. For Christ’s sake, Lexa had actually just told her that she wanted to kiss her at the lake party—

Let it be known that Lexa Woods, formerly known as hot-stretching-girl, wanted to kiss Clarke Griffin just as much as Clarke Griffin had wanted to kiss her.

And she _did_ , they had _just_ kissed. She could still feel the tingling on her lips and Clarke was legitimately considering going around the back yard on a search party to see if any witnesses had concrete proof of The Kiss, when Raven approached her from behind providing her with the validation she’d been craving.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe it took literally _seconds_ for Woods to smother the fuck out of you. Like, for real, what kind of skills have you been hiding, Griffin?”

“You shouldn’t underestimate the Griffin charm, Reyes.” Clarke replied nonchalantly before letting her grin take over her face again as they reached the beer keg. “Did you take pictures?”

“Not this time, sorry, pal” Raven chuckled handing her own red cup for Clarke to fill. “Damn, Woods really is a chick magnet.”

Clarke’s eyes shot up at that, following Raven’s line of sight and she was met with Lexa (who by the way, looked _gorgeous_ with her loose hair pulled around one shoulder) casually talking with a shorter girl Clarke had never seen before. “Fuck. Can’t a girl catch a break?” She muttered under her breath.

Raven seemed to had already gotten bored with the sight, starting to recall a scene she’d witnessed inside the party — something about Octavia making the whole living room chant her name as she challenged some guy at keg stand — but Clarke wasn’t hearing any of it. Her eyes were still very much glued to the two girls chatting on the other side of the back yard. _Who even was that girl?_ She was definitely not a football player, she was too short; if it weren’t for her braids on that high hair do, she’d barely reach Lexa’s shoulder length. Even with this distance Clarke could see that she had a big beautiful smile, all flashing white teeth and dimples on her caramel cheeks and _dammit!_ could she stop directing that stupid smile at Lexa? And could Lexa stop offering this girl that cute, shy, half smile of hers?

“Do you think Bellamy had a point?” Clarke said before she could rethink the situation. Raven stopped mid-sentence, not surprised to discover Clarke not paying any attention to whatever it was that she was telling her. “Like, with Lexa being a player and stuff?” Clarke clarified as Raven took upon herself to fill the two cups on the blonde’s hands — it didn’t look like Clarke would start the task any time soon.

“C’mon Clarke, even if she was, I doubt Lexa’s flirting with that girl when she knows you’re going back there soon. I mean, nobody is _that_ cheap.” Raven thrusted the first cup back on Clarke’s hand and chanced a glance back at Lexa and the other girl. “They look like friends, anyway.”

Clarke grew quiet for a few moments, carefully watching the easy conversation the two girls were carrying. They definitely seemed like they knew each other, at least Clarke hardly ever saw Lexa talking that much with someone she barely knew. The other girl was all giggles and flashing smiles, easily holding Lexa’s attention and Clarke was beginning to feel bothered by the sudden uncalled for stream of jealously clouding her thoughts.

“Are you honestly this troubled by that?” Raven said warily, extending the other filled cup for Clarke to grab.

“I don’t know.” She replied honestly, finally tearing her attention from Lexa and her _friend_ to downcast her eyes self consciously at the cups in her hands.

“Griffin, you’ve been pining over this girl ever since we moved here. She literally just kissed you.” Raven scoffed incredulously. “Are you seriously going to back down _now_?”

“I never said I’m backing down from anything.” Clarke replied childish, pretending the beer foam on the cups were the most entertaining thing in the world.

“Well, I’m not seeing you going back there with your damn beers.” Raven snapped matter of factly.

“Ugh” Clarke groaned defeated, lifting her head up just in time to catch the other girl grabbing Lexa’s shoulder as she apparently laughed soundly at whatever Lexa had said. “It’s just… I don’t know, Lexa’s been so sweet and attentive so far, but what if Bellamy was right and this is just a ‘front’ and she secretly has a competition with her football roommates to see who sleeps with more freshmen before the end of the year.”

“Whoa. Slow down, Griffin.” Raven laughed patting Clarke’s back. “I don’t know what Bellamy knows or _thinks_ he knows, but so far Lexa’s been a pretty chill person.” She squeezed the blonde’s shoulder for good measure. “And fuck, so what if she’s playing you? She’s hot,” Raven gave Clarke a once over. “ _you_ ’re hot. You’ve wanted her in your pants since day one. I say go for it. Go over there play with her.” Raven finished wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Clarke stared some more at the other girls while she processed Raven’s reasoning.

She had a point, Clarke was kind of getting ahead of herself. Sure, Lexa was incredibly attractive and they had gotten along quite well so far — and hey, let’s not forget the pretty great kiss they’d just shared —, but should Clarke really be worrying herself that much about Lexa’s intentions? Hell, Clarke didn’t know if _she_ wanted anything more than that from the quarterback. She had just started college, there were plenty of regrets yet to be made and to be remembered fondly when she was older.

Lexa’s _friend_ apparently noticed Clarke’s blatant staring, and the blonde watched as the girl discreetly pointed at her and Raven while still talking to Lexa. The quarterback turned and Clarke felt her resolve softening at the spontaneous smile on Lexa’s face when their eyes locked across the back yard. They exchanged small waves, but were interrupted by the other girl stealing Lexa’s attention again and Clarke didn’t ease up on the glare when the girl dared to glance back at the blonde.

“You know what? You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right, I have never been wrong in my entire life.” Raven scoffed affronted taking a sip of her beer. “What am I right about?”

“I’m young, I’m hot! It’s my freshman year— I’m not asking Lexa to fucking marry me! I’m going over there to play with her.” Clarke slowly shook her head to herself considering her words. “That sounded awful, we’re never using that analogy ever again.”

“Yikes” Raven nodded with a grimace.

“Okay, that’s _enough_.” Clarke snapped as she watched the other girl getting on her toes to kiss Lexa’s cheek.

Without as much as a goodbye to Raven, Clarke strode through the back yard with the filled cups on her hands. She thought of what to say to send that other girl away, and even considered if she could scared her off with just another glare. Clarke shuffled around walking people until she was pleased to reach Lexa, standing very much alone and with her phone in her hand. She looked up when she heard Clarke approaching and smiled brightly at her.

“Hey, I was worried I might’ve lost you.” Lexa said grabbing the cup Clarke offered her and placing her phone on the back pocket of her jeans. “One second you’re there with your roommate, and then I looked again and you were gone.”

“Well, don’t you worry, here I am.” Clarke playfully clinked her red cup on Lexa’s before they each drank from it.

“Mmm, now we’re talking.” Lexa gladly sighed swallowing a generous sip of beer.

“So, you’ve found a friend on Bell’s party.” Clarke instantly scolded herself for bringing it up. _What would she gain by making Lexa talk about that girl?_

“Oh, hm, yeah.” Lexa took another sip of her beer. “That was Arabella, we’ve shared a few classes together throughout the years, you know, when majors intertwine and stuff… I believe she’s friends with Octavia’s brother.”

“Hm.” Clarke nodded making a mental note to ask Bellamy about this Arabella girl. She got the information she wanted, so Clarke quickly grabbed the opportunity to change the subject. “Speaking of Octavia, she told us you’re teaching her yoga.” Clarke chuckled remembering the mess of a morning they had to achieve that information from Octavia.

“Oh did she?” Lexa nodded pleased as she took another sip of her beer making Clarke wonder if that was a nervous reflex or if she was just thirsty. “I’m glad she decided to share it with you guys.”

“Gotta say I’m definitely surprised that your secret football weapon is actually, yoga.” Clarke teased taking a small step closer to Lexa.

Lexa laughed and took one step towards Clarke as well, leaning in as though she was about to say something the other party-goers couldn’t be privy on. “Well, then you’re gonna be _astonished_ to find out that my actual secret weapon is not yoga.” Clarke narrowed her eyes at her and Lexa closed the distance, sending a shiver through Clarke’s body, to whisper quietly on the blonde’s ear. “It’s ballet.”

“No way.” Clarke gasped loudly as Lexa retracted herself trying to contain her amused grin behind her cup. “You’re a ballerina?” Clarke was totally not creepily lusting after mental images of Lexa on tight leggings and leotards stretching her legs up high. Come to think of it, hot-stretching-girl was actually proving to be the most fitting nickname she and Raven ever came up with.

“Used to be.” Lexa replied drinking from her cup, pulling Clarke away from her fantasies. “I did ballet since I was two until the end of high school. You’d be amazed with how much _that_ has improved my football game.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to wait and see.” Clarke arched a brow and took a sip of her cup as well. “Why’d you stop?”

“Schedule conflict, mostly.” Lexa shrugged, absently looking around the back yard. “Also, ballet demanded more of my body than football did— believe it or not.” She chuckled distractedly.  “And I wasn’t as good at it as I was at football, so it wasn’t that hard of a choice to quit when I came here.”

“But if you did ballet for—” Clarke counted the years on her head. “at least fifteen years, on _New York_ of all places, you couldn’t suck that bad.”

“Hey now, I never said I sucked.” Lexa laughed pretending to be offended by Clarke’s remark. The quarterback resumed drinking from her cup, her eyes scanning the party and Clarke sensed she was mulling something over, so she waited patiently before Lexa spoke up again, her voice kind of shaky despite her half smile. “My mother was one of the principals on the New York City Ballet so that was mostly why I stayed for so long.”

Clarke had gathered so far that Lexa wasn’t big on talking about herself, unless the quarterback willingly offered bits of her personal background. And since Lexa closing off was the last thing Clarke wanted, she didn’t have to convince herself too much on not extending that topic, choosing  instead to return to a safer ground. “Enlighten me then, how does ballet help you on football?”

Lexa’s attire instantly relaxed, and the quarterback turned fully to face Clarke. The blonde mentally high fived herself, because that made them incredibly close and Lexa’s eyes were shining with a shade of gold below the Christmas lights (that were also Clarke’s idea, so hey, another high five for her) and Lexa’s half smile quickly turned into a teasing smirk when she realized just how close they suddenly were. “Well, I guess you _will_ have to wait and see.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see all of your secret moves.” It was such a bad line, but who cared when they were that close and Lexa was laughing her raspy laugh? Clarke was only so strong and her few beers (and not so few tequila shots with Octavia) were definitely taking control of her impulses when she grabbed Lexa’s shoulder and lifted herself just enough to kiss her.

Apparently that hadn’t been too far from Lexa’s mind, because the quarterback quickly snaked her free arm around Clarke’s back, holding her closer as she supported most of the blonde’s weight. Clarke’s hand on Lexa’s shoulder glided up to grab at her neck instead as she changed the angle of her head to deepen the kiss. A soft moan escaped her throat as Lexa’s tongue met hers and Clarke dropped her half full glass on the ground to thread her now free hand on Lexa’s smooth hair to keep the quarterback in place. Clarke had no intention to end this kiss as quickly as their first one did.

Lexa’s hand on her back stealthily found its way inside Clarke’s shirt, and her cold fingers rose goosebumps on Clarke’s spine when they lightly grazed the skin on the small of her back, making the blonde bite Lexa’s bottom lip out of reflex. She giggled at Lexa’s surprised hiss and quickly soothed her bite by lazily sucking the girl’s plump lip between her own.

Lexa’s lips were everything Clarke had fantasized them to be — if not better — and she was happy to kiss them all night long if it meant Lexa would continue to scratch her blunt nails on Clarke’s small back and return Clarke’s kisses with just as much eagerness.

When they parted, it was with heavy breathing from both parties. Lexa’s arm left Clarke’s back so she could run a hand through her hair, soothing the mess Clarke was completely not sorry for making. Clarke dropped her hands from Lexa’s shoulders to her hips, taking the smallest step back so they could regain some composure along with their breaths. Lexa smiled when their eyes met  and the blonde grinned widely in return. Raven was right, this was all kinds of worth it. Lexa was about to lean in again, her green eyes staring heavily at Clarke’s lips when a guy’s voice interrupted their moment.

“Hey you’re Lexa Woods, right? The quarterback?”

“Unfortunately.” Lexa muttered under her breath, her eyes still very much locked on Clarke’s mouth and it was not bellow Clarke to feel proud of herself at Lexa’s irritated tone towards the unknown guy, who blankly stared at them apparently not hearing Lexa. She straightened her posture to give him her full attention. “Yes. Why?”

“Some chick named Anya made me come look for you, she says you’re needed at the front yard’s beer pong table.” He pointed at his back, indicating the front of the house, with an unimpressed expression.

“Fuck no.” Clarke found herself saying. There was no way she was going to let Lexa go to a beer pong table after that kiss. She looked at the quarterback and apparently her intentions were evident on her raged expression, because Lexa laughed loudly when they locked eyes.

“Wanna make a run for it?” Lexa laughed, amusement shining on her green eyes.

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” Clarke snapped still irritated by the mere mention of the game. She took Lexa’s almost empty cup from her hand and thrusted at the guy who grabbed it out of reflex. Without a second thought Clarke grabbed Lexa’s tattooed forearm and yanked her in the direction of the house.

Clarke hadn’t thought that much ahead, but she powered through the crowds inside the loud living room, with Lexa compliantly following her close. From the other side of the room, exiting the kitchen, Clarke spotted Octavia at the same time the other girl spotted them, taking note of Clarke’s strong hold on Lexa’s arm as the blonde led them in the opposite direction, and Octavia excitedly shot her arms in the air, spilling both the drinks she was holding on people around her as she jumped up and down cheering Clarke on.

The blonde shook her head laughing to herself, pulling Lexa closer to her as they left the living room to enter a hallway. Clarke had been to the boys’ house several times before, but she hardly entered any of their rooms, so she opened the first door she saw and knew it wasn’t the bathroom, and dragged Lexa inside the dark room, pinning the quarterback against the door as soon as it was closed.

They were both laughing at their escape and Clarke tried to recognized the room in the darkness without much success. She felt Lexa’s hand on her cheek more than she saw it and she instinctively closed her eyes when Lexa’s lips found hers again.

Lexa’s mouth was warm and Clarke was able to notice the faint taste of beer on her lips and tongue. She led her other hand to Clarke’s waist and pulled the blonde closer to her against the door. Her lips slid comfortably against Clarke’s, and she traced Clarke’s mouth with her tongue with absolutely no rush, as if they weren’t inside some unknown room and a loud party wasn’t happening outside that door. All the attention Lexa was giving to her mouth was making her head swim and Clarke sighed almost relieved when the quarterback changed focus to leave kisses on Clarke’s neck instead.

“So no beer pong tonight?” Lexa smirked against her skin.

“Nuh-uh.” Clarke mumbled, encouragingly scratching Lexa’s scalp as she kissed her neck open mouthed. “Otherwise you’re gonna use your yoga and ballet super powers and next thing we know you have to defend your beer pong championship title all night—” An embarrassedly loud moan escaped Clarke’s mouth as Lexa sucked on her pulse point. “and we won’t have time for this.” Clarke dragged Lexa’s mouth back to hers before the quarterback could leave a mark there.

“You’re right, this is much better.” Lexa mumbled against her lips.

Pushing off the door, Lexa blindly guided Clarke backwards trying to find any other surface they could lean on inside the room, never once breaking their frantic string of kisses. They stumbled around the room, stepping on unknown objects, their kisses getting sloppier but refusing the let go of each other’s mouths. Clarke was tripping every two steps she took backwards, until her butt hit something cold originating a faint metal sound. Lexa’s body came flushed against hers at the unexpected stop on their tracks and Clarke’s hands were firm on Lexa’s hips pulling her even closer, grinding her center against Lexa’s and another moan was stifled in the back of her throat as Lexa kissed her harder.

Lexa’s hands slid around her sides, squeezing every so often, until they reached Clarke’s tights and grabbed the back of the blonde’s knees to hoist her up. Clarke broke their kiss to let a surprised yelp out as she sat on a hard, cold, surface of what she then recognized to be a washing machine, suddenly realizing they were on the laundry room. Her legs quickly entwined on Lexa’s back as the quarterback moved her face up again, chasing Clarke’s mouth, kissing her lips softly, a contrast to their frenzied movements since entering the room, before she rested her forehead against the blonde’s so they could catch their breaths.

“I’m sorry, got a little carried away.” Lexa sighed contently, lightly rubbing her hands on Clarke’s naked thighs.

Clarke smiled at the gesture and cupped Lexa’s face with both hands, forcing the quarterback to look her in the eye. “I’m not.” Clarke brought her face back to her and kissed Lexa’s swollen lips again.

“Are you sure?” Lexa asked quietly against her lips. Clarke nodded and brushed all of Lexa’s loose hair to her other shoulder so she could kiss her neck. “I mean— I feel like—” Lexa stuttered as Clarke’s attention on her neck increased from little pecks to not so innocent scrape of teeth. “Ugh, I don’t wanna be rude, but aren’t you a little drunk for this?”

Clarke reluctantly moved from her position on Lexa’s neck to look the other girl in the eyes again. “Maybe. But trust me, sober me really wants this too.” Clarke was ready to lean down for another kiss to sell her case, but stopped half way when her eyes got used to the dark room. Lexa’s cheeks were flustered from all the kissing, her brows were furrowed in honest concern and suddenly Clarke worried that Lexa might’ve been having second thoughts. “Unless, _you_ don’t—”

Her worries died on the tip of her tongue as Lexa launched forward and grasped her lips in a searing kiss. Their hands started to wander, Clarke’s pulling on Lexa’s waist to bring her as close as they could get, tightening her hold on the quarterback with her ankles on the girl’s back. And Lexa didn’t waste any time on unbuttoning the blonde’s shirt to reveal her shoulders and collarbones. Her mouth soon followed and she sucked and kissed on Clarke’s skin as the blonde sighed pleased with the attention.

“Is this ok?” Lexa murmured, her mouth on the hollow of Clarke’s throat, and her hand tugging on Clarke’s shirt, asking for permission to expose more skin.

“Yes.” Clarke nodded eagerly, gently leading Lexa’s mouth in the direction of her breasts as the girl quickly worked her remaining buttons free.

She gasped as Lexa kept kissing down between her breasts on full display on her purple push-up bra, and Lexa carefully pushed her unbuttoned shirt behind the blonde’s shoulders. Clarke’s breathing became more labored and her back arched up whenever Lexa sucked in a particularly sensitive spot.

Clarke started bucking her hips unconsciously, seeking more friction and Lexa’s hands soon found the waistband of Clarke’s shorts, fingertips lightly grazing her skin just below her navel. Clarke sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and sighed as Lexa’s mouth travelled up to give attention to her neck again.

“You smell amazing.” Lexa murmured between kisses bellow her ear and Clarke lost all of her abilities to answer when her teeth closed around her earlobe in a bite.

Lexa toyed with the button on Clarke’s shorts in a silent question and the blonde frantically nodded her approval, promptly lifting her hips up to speed up the process. Lexa pulled her shorts down slowly as Clarke detangled her legs from behind the quarterback’s back to let the garment fall to the ground. She gasped surprised when her butt sat on the uncomfortably cold surface of the washing machine.

“Everything okay?” Lexa asked concern on her voice as she sucked on Clarke’s collarbone.

“Mhm, c’mere.” Clarke gently guided her face to join their lips again in a heated kiss.

Clarke grabbed Lexa’s right hand placed on her waist and slowly dragged down against her exposed skin until Lexa’s fingertips hooked on the waistband of her underwear, Lexa didn’t have to be asked twice and slowly tugged it down Clarke’s thighs. The blonde bite down on Lexa’s bottom lip as she painfully pushed Clarke’s underwear in near slow motion until that was out of their way. Lexa kissed her fully again, but Clarke couldn’t focus on anything other than Lexa’s hand as it gently stroked her where Clarke needed the most. She didn’t think too much about how wet she was, mainly because there was no point anymore, but mostly because when Lexa discovered it for herself she practically growled against Clarke’s mouth and that was almost as satisfying as her fingers working her up.

Lexa slid two fingers inside of her and Clarke let a pleased sigh escape her lips at the welcomed intrusion, clawing down on Lexa’s shoulders covered by her t-shirt. Lexa started soft, thrusting in and out of her, allowing Clarke to roll and shift, dictating the best rhythm against her fingers. When they found the perfect pace, Lexa brought her thumb to stroke her clit in sync with her thrusts. Clarke was a moaning mess at this point, gripping Lexa’s shoulders for dear life as the other girl kissed her neck and breathed heavily against her skin with each movement of her fingers.

“Oh god—” Clarke exhaled as Lexa started to pump her fingers and curl them forward, stroking her from inside and grinding her palm against Clarke’s clit.

It had been a long time since Clarke felt like this. Yes, she had a one night stand at some point of their first week in town, but she couldn’t remember the last time sex felt _that_ good. Lexa’s movements were precise, and she never ceased to bring attention to rest of Clarke’s body, caressing her breasts and kissing her neck and collarbones and mouth at the same time that her fingers worked Clarke up to the point she didn’t feel capable of reciprocating any of that attention. So Clarke resumed her role to lightly pull Lexa’s hair every time she reached that spot deep inside of her or to moan breathily against her ear whenever her thrusts timed perfectly with the grinding of Clarke’s hips.

Clarke was ridiculously turned on and she knew it wouldn’t take long for her to get close, yet she couldn’t refrain herself from bucking harder and faster against Lexa’s long fingers. Lexa caught on and brought her other hand to lift Clarke slightly up, changing their angle and allowing for her fingers to reach deeper inside of the blonde.

“Fuck.” Clarke felt herself clenching around Lexa’s fingers and both her hands found the back of the quarterback’s neck to bring her lips together as her orgasm hit her hard. She gasped loudly against Lexa’s lips while the other girl steadily helped her ride out her high. When she finished, Clarke collapsed her head against Lexa’s chest and rested her forehead on her shoulder while she caught her breath. Lexa kissed her temple as she removed her fingers from inside of the blonde.

Clarke lifted her face to meet Lexa’s and the sight of Lexa after sex was probably the hottest thing Clarke had ever seen. Her hair was wildly mussed, her face completely flustered with her chest heaving up and down to catch her breath. Her lips were kiss swollen and slightly parted in the sexiest way possible. She stared at Clarke’s mouth with her blown pupils practically taking over her green eyes, beneath her heavy eyelids, and when she glanced up to meet Clarke’s eyes, the blonde quickly bit her own bottom lip trying to suppress a long moan from leaving her mouth as she felt the heat starting to curse through her body all over again.

Lexa was about to lean in again for another kiss when they were startled by the loud noise of Clarke’s phone buzzing on her discarded shorts against the metal of the washing machine.

“Holy fuck.” Clarke laughed bringing a hand to her heart as Lexa chuckled crouching down to grab for her the forgotten device.

She took the opportunity to quickly slide her panties back up as Lexa rose to her feet offering her shorts and cellphone on each hand. Clarke grabbed her still buzzing phone and Lexa took the cue to leave the shorts beside Clarke on top of the washing machine. Octavia was calling her, but the call ended before Clarke could answer and her notifications screen flashed up with way more stuff than Clarke could’ve predicted. She skimmed through them as Lexa gently pulled Clarke's shirt back on her torso and started buttoning it up for her.

 

 **1:39AM  
** **Notifications**

 **Raven Reyes**  55m ago  
where r u

 **Raven Reyes**  46m ago  
omg octavia just told me

 **Raven Reyes**  46m ago  
GET IT GRIFFIN

 **Octavia Blake** 10m ago  
Are youand Lexar still at the prty?

 **Octavia Blake** 5m ago  
Apprntly some idiot neighbor culled th cops

 **Octavia Blake** 5m ago  
Run 4 your life

 **Octavia Blake** 3m ago  
Scratch that cpme help me

 **Octavia Blake** 3m ago  
Ravens drunken ass wn’t stop crying

 **Octavia Blake** 3m ago  
apprently Frank Pacific Ocean relesed new album

 **Octavia Blake** 1m ago  
CLARKE COME HELP

 **Octavia Blake** 1m ago  
I CANT GET ARRESted BEFORE THE fiRST GAME

 

“Fuck.” Clarke slid off the washing machine coming to stand fully against Lexa who mistook the gesture as an invitation to continue kissing Clarke’s neck. She couldn’t really control the moan from leaving her lips as Lexa sucked on her pulse point and pressed herself entirely against Clarke’s front, her hands already wandering through Clarke's sides at their own account. “Oh god.” Clarke’s hand came up to grasp Lexa’s hair. “Wait. We can’t. The cops.”

“Cops?” That apparently was all it took for Lexa to detach her amazing lips from Clarke’s exposed skin and the blonde whined irrationally at the lack of contact.

“Cops. Right. Apparently some neighbor called them.” Clarke shook her head to adjust her thoughts. Lexa was very distracting. “We need to go. You should find your roommates. Octavia’s already requesting help with an apparently very drunk, crying, Raven.”

“The cops usually take forever.” Lexa offered calmly as she leaned down to kiss Clarke softly, sucking on her bottom lip lazily.

“You’re such a good kisser.” Clarke sighed against Lexa’s plump lips.

“Just kisser?” Lexa smirked moving her mouth to nip at Clarke’s jaw line.

“Now you’re just fishing.” Clarke chuckled. Her phone vibrated again in her hand and she had to come to terms with the fact that their time together was up. She gently pushed Lexa’s shoulders away to look as seriously as she could on green lustful eyes. “Come on, we have to go.”

Lexa sighed defeated but nodded her consent. Clarke dropped her phone on top of the washing machine, as she struggled to put her shorts back on, but Lexa snatched the device as soon as Clarke wasn’t paying attention.

“I’m putting my number on it.” She clarified upon Clarke’s questionable arched brow. “We should do this again sometime.”

“Definitely” Clarke chuckled triumphantly, accepting Lexa’s chaste kiss when she returned the phone to the blonde’s waiting hands.

“All right, I’m gonna try to find my roommates.” Lexa huffed running a hand through her messy hair. “Stay safe.” She added seriously looking into Clarke’s eyes. “Text me when you get home.” She winked trying to hold back her smile as she leaned down to kiss Clarke’s cheek goodbye. Clarke stayed firmly planted in front of the washing machine as she watched Lexa's figure sauntering away the laundry room. And then it hit her: _Fuck_ , that just happened and Clarke didn't even take the opportunity to get Lexa naked.

Well, yeah, they should definitely do this again sometime.

Oh boy, was she in trouble.

 

+++

 

 **Lexa  
** **today, 2:23AM**

Hey, it’s Clarke. :)  
I just got home.  
Did you get to yours all right?

 

Hello Clarke  
I actually just got into my bed

 

That’s great!  
Have nice dreams!

 

I will :)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so _that_ finally happened.  
>  sex is SO hard to write, you guys! omg, i hope it didn't suck so bad.  
> thanks for patiently waiting between the chapters. i try to write a little bit whenever i can, but real life can be a bitch sometimes.  
> as always, feedbacks are immensely appreciated! i love reading your comments :)


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